Sir Cecil Stephen Hincks (18 February 1894 – 1 January 1963), Australian politician, was a member of the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the South Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament House in the st ...

who was Minister of Lands, Irrigation and Repatriation in Thomas Playford's government.

Early life

Cecil Hincks was born on 18 February 1894, in the township of

Maitland, South Australia Maitland () is a town in South Australia. By road, it is 168 km west of Adelaide by, 164 km south of Port Pirie and 46 km north of Minlaton known as the "heart of Yorke Peninsula" due to being near the centre of the region. At ...

, the son of

miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalent ...

Henry Stephen Hincks and his wife Emily Frances Picton (''née'' Parkins). He was educated at Port Victoria Public School and the Collegiate School of St Peter, and followed his father into the flour milling trade after completion of his schooling, while training with the cadets and citizens' force. In 1914, he was considered to try out for the Port Adelaide Football Club, but his trial was cancelled due to the outbreak of

World War I 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 ...

.Stock, Jenny Tilby
'Hincks, Sir Cecil Stephen (1894 - 1963)'
'' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 14, Melbourne University Press, 1996, pp 454-455.

Military career

World War I

At the outbreak of the war, the Hincks family was living in the town of

Gawler Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...

, north of Adelaide. Hincks travelled to Morphettville, where he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 28 August 1914 and was assigned to the South Australian 10th Battalion's 'G' Company as a

Lance Corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...

.Richards, Anne
Gawler's Soldiers: A portrait of six of the first young men from Gawler to enlist for service in the First World War, 1914-1918
, Gawler Public Library, 2009. Hincks served with the 10th Battalion in the Gallipoli Campaign, coming ashore at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915 ahead of the main landing of Australian forces. On 28 April, Hincks was promoted to Corporal, and on 4 August to Sergeant. In September 1915, Hincks was evacuated to

Mudros Moudros ( el, Μούδρος) is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eas ...

after he was found to be suffering from influenza and an intestinal disease. In October he was admitted to hospital in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, and nearly a year later he was discharged from hospital in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

and returned to rejoin his unit at the Western Front on 23 August 1916. At the Battle of Lagnicourt, part of the Battle of Arras in 1917, Hincks received gunshot wounds to his legs and chest, and was sent to Rouen where his condition was assessed as "dangerously ill". He was evacuated to England to recover, and after surgery over the following year, his injured leg was

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indiv ...

. In 1918, he married Gladys Lottie Merritt in Surbiton, Surrey. He remained in England on extended sick leave for most of 1919, but left to return to Australia on 10 December. He was discharged from the 10th Battalion a year later on 13 December 1920. His marriage to Gladys ended in divorce shortly afterwards.

World War II

Lieutenant Hincks served as an

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...

recruiting officer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, working out of the Central Recruiting Depot (CRD) in Yorketown. He was promoted to Temporary Captain and transferred to the Reserve of Officers in August 1941, and was discharged on 16 May 1946.

Political career

Following his discharge from the army, Hincks worked for the Wheat Harvest Board before setting up his own grain and insurance management business and starting a farm. He was a member of several charitable organisations, and a state councillor in the Returned Sailors' Soldiers' nd AirmensImperial League (1922–1946). At the South Australian state election in August 1941, Hincks was elected to the

, representing the electoral district of

Yorke Peninsula The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the south by Investigator Str ...

for the

Liberal and Country League Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...

. After serving on a committee to inspect and assess land for the Federal government for

soldier settlement 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 settlemen ...

, Hincks was assigned to the related portfolios as Minister of Lands, Irrigation and Repatriation on 17 April 1946. Despite his poor health, Hincks was respected and admired for his hard work in the portfolios, which he held until his death in office from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

on 1 January 1963.

Honours and memorials

Hincks was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

on 1 January 1960, for service as Minister of Lands and Repatriation in South Australia. The Hincks Conservation Park on the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named af ...

was named after him, and in 2004, the adjourning Hincks Wilderness Protection Area was declared as one of the first wilderness protection areas on mainland South Australia.Wilderness Protection in South Australia
, Department for Environment and Heritage, Government of South Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hincks, Cecil 1894 births 1963 deaths Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Liberal and Country League politicians Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of South Australia Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers Australian Knights Bachelor Australian amputees Deaths from cancer in South Australia People from Maitland, South Australia 20th-century Australian politicians