Frederick Richard Hugh Lavery (13 February 1898 – 12 January 1971) was an Australian trade unionist and politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Council of

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 ...

from 1952 to 1971. Lavery was born in

Coolgardie, Western Australia Coolgardie is a small town in Western Australia, east of the state capital, Perth. It has a population of approximately 850 people. Although Coolgardie is now known to most Western Australians as a tourist town and a mining ghost town, it wa ...

, to Mary (née de Landgrafft) and William Lavery. He began his schooling in

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...

, but later moved away from the country and attended

Fremantle Boys' School Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

. After leaving school, Lavery worked for periods as a contractor (at Ballidu), bus driver, and truck driver (for

Commonwealth Oil Refineries Commonwealth Oil Refineries (COR) was an Australian oil company that operated between 1920 and 1952 as a joint venture of the Australian government and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Early history The partnership was established in 1920 on ...

). He joined the Road Transport Union in 1920, and served as treasurer for 14 years and on the executive for 24 years, and eventually becoming a life member. Lavery entered parliament at the 1952 Legislative Council election, replacing the retiring Edmund Gray in West Province. He was re-elected in 1958, and at the 1965 state election transferred to the new

South Metropolitan Province The South Metropolitan Province was a two-member electoral province of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in metropolitan Perth. It was one of several metropolitan seats created following the enactment of the ''Constitution Acts A ...

, following a redistribution. Lavery died in office in January 1971, at

St John of God Subiaco Hospital St John of God Subiaco Hospital is a private hospital in Subiaco, Western Australia, founded in . History Archbishop of Perth Matthew Gibney invited eight sisters of St John of God to Western Australia in 1895 to help people with typhoid fever ...

. He had been married twice, firstly to Nora Newbold in 1925, with whom he had two sons. He was widowed in 1958, and remarried in 1966 to

Ruby Hutchison Ruby Florence Hutchison (15 February 1892 – 17 December 1974) was an Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1954 to 1971, representing Suburban Province (1954–1965) and North-E ...

, who was also a member of the Legislative Council. They were the first married couple to serve together in an Australian parliament.Frederick Richard Hugh Lavery
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 26 December 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavery, Frederick 1898 births 1971 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian trade unionists Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People from Coolgardie, Western Australia