Frederick Ronald Birrell (7 December 1913 – 23 July 1985) was an Australian politician.

History

Born in Adelaide, South Australia, grandson of Robert Birrell (died 1880) and son of Frederick (c. 1877 – 31 July 1952) and May Birrell (née Moran), he was educated at state schools before becoming an auto worker. He served in the military from 1940 to 1946. From 1959 to 1963 he was the

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

n Secretary of the Vehicle Builders' Union, becoming its federal president 1961–1962. In 1958 he was president of the South Australian Trades and Labor Council. In 1963, he was elected to the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

as the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

member for Port Adelaide. He held the seat until his retirement in 1974. Birrell died in 1985.

Personal

Fred Birrell married Patricia Lundie, a daughter of Francis Walter Lundie, long time leader of the Amalgamated Shearers' Union, then the Australian Workers' Union, Councillor for the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and the Port Adelaide Council, Board member of the Royal Adelaide Hospital and the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia. He was a member of the 1934 Glenelg Tiger (SANFL) football premiership team. Family relationship to Frederick William Birrell (1869–1939), South Australian typographer and MLA Son of Andrew Birrell, if any, has not been found.

References

Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Port Adelaide Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1913 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub