Edward Charles House (29 September 1916 – 1 January 1971) was an Australian politician. He was a Country Party member of the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

from 1965 until his death, representing South Province.

Biography

House was born in Katanning and educated at Guildford Grammar School. He worked on his family's farm, "Eugenup" at Gnowangerup until 1940. On 7 October 1940, House enlisted for service with the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

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 opposin ...

, serving as a fighter pilot in the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean with the

No. 450 Squadron RAAF No. 450 Squadron was a unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) that operated during World War II. Established at RAAF Station Williamtown, New South Wales, in February 1941, it was the first Australian Article XV squadron formed un ...

and on secondment with the

No. 238 Squadron RAF No. 238 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was first formed in 1918 by combining number 347, 348 and 349 Flights at RAF Cattewater by the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. It was reformed for the Second World War, the ...

. He was discharged on 14 September 1945, having been awarded the

Distinguished Flying Medal The Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Air Force and other British Armed Forces, and formerly to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for "exceptional va ...

, Distinguished Flying Cross and the Africa Star. House subsequently returned to farming at Gnowangerup and assumed the day-to-day management from his father in 1945, inheriting the property upon his father's death in 1954. He was a

Shire of Gnowangerup The Shire of Gnowangerup is a local government area in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, about north of Albany and about southeast of the capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of , and its seat of government is the town of ...

councillor from 1962 to 1966 and a member of the executive of the Great Southern Regional Council Association. House was elected to the Legislative Council at the 1965 state election. He was a member of the Printing Committee from 1965 to 1971. He died in office on 1 January 1971 at

Hollywood Private Hospital Hollywood Private Hospital (Hollywood) is an acute care hospital located in Nedlands, Western Australia. Hollywood is Western Australia's largest private hospital, with more than 900 licensed beds. The hospital is part of Ramsay Health Care Gro ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and was buried at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

Personal life

House married RAAF Nursing Sister Catherine Joan Callaghan on 31 August 1945. They had one son and two three daughters; his son,

Monty House Montague Grant "Monty" House (born 16 August 1946) is a former Australian politician. He was born in Perth, the son of politician Edward House, and was a farmer at Gnowangerup before entering politics. In 1986 he was elected to the Western Aus ...

, went on to become a long-serving member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:House, Edward 1916 births 1971 deaths Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council 20th-century Australian politicians People from Katanning, Western Australia National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia People educated at Guildford Grammar School Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Australian recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Medal Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery