Sir Henry Alan Currie MC (6 June 1868 – 10 October 1942) was an Australian politician. He was born in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

to grazier John Lang Currie and Louise Johnston. He attended

Melbourne Grammar School (Pray and Work) , established = 1849 (on present site since 1858 - the celebrated date of foundation) , type = Independent, co-educational primary, single-sex boys secondary, day and boarding , denominatio ...

and then entered into residence at

Trinity College (University of Melbourne) Trinity College is the oldest residential college of the University of Melbourne, the first university in the colony of Victoria, Australia. The college was opened in 1872 on a site granted to the Church of England by the government of Victori ...

, while studying civil engineering at the University. From 1896 to 1898 he worked in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

as an assistant engineer for the Public Works Department, before his father died in 1898 and he inherited part of the family estates. On 11 June 1902 he married Muriel Miller. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served with the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

in Belgium and France; he was wounded,

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

, and then in 1918 awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

. In 1920 he sold the

Mount Elephant Mount Elephant is a conical breached scoria cone formed by a dormant volcano, located 1 km from the town of Derrinallum in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It is a prominent landmark that forms the eastern gateway to the Kanawinka Geo ...

property he had co-run with his brother and acquired land at near Burrumbeet under the

soldier settler Soldier settlement was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under soldier settlement schemes administered by state governments after World War I and World War II. The post-World War II settlement ...

scheme. From 1904 to 1914 he had served on Hampden Shire Council, serving a term as president from 1909 to 1910. In 1928 he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

as a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

member for

Nelson Province Nelson Province was constituted in 1853 under the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, and originally covered the entire upper South Island, including all of present-day Buller, Kaikoura, Marlborough, and Tasman districts, along with Nelson Ci ...

. He was briefly a minister without portfolio in December 1929. Knighted in 1937, he served until the abolition of his seat in 1940, at which time he retired. Currie died at Burrumbeet in 1942.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Currie, Alan 1868 births 1942 deaths Australian Knights Bachelor Australian recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of World War I Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Royal Field Artillery officers People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) Politicians from Geelong Military personnel from Victoria (state) Colony of Victoria people