Hattil Spencer "Harry" Foll (30 May 1890 – 7 July 1977) was an Australian politician who served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

from 1917 to 1947. He took office at the age of 27, and at the time was the youngest person to serve in the Senate. Foll began his career in the Nationalist Party, later joining the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

(UAP) in 1931 and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

in 1945. He held ministerial office as Minister for Repatriation (1937–1938),

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

(1938–1939),

Minister for the Interior Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

(1939–1941), and Minister for Information (1940–1941). He was a member of the

War Cabinet A war cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war to efficiently and effectively conduct that war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers, although it is quite common for a war cabinet to have senior ...

during World War II.

Early life

Foll was born in West Brixton, London, England, the second child of Kate (née Lamb) and John Hattil Foll. He disliked his given name (taken from an obscure Old Testament figure), and was always known as "Harry". Foll grew up in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

, attending Holy Trinity and

Clapham College Clapham College was a Roman Catholic secondary school for boys in South London. Background It opened in 1897 and closed in 1989. Its history falls into three phases: for half a century it was a private school, for three decades it was a publicl ...

. He immigrated to Australia in 1909, and subsequently worked on a station near

Longreach Longreach is a town and a locality in the Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the Longreach Regional Council, which was established in 2008 as a merger of the former Longreach, Ilfracombe, and Isisford s ...

in western

. A year later moved to

Beenleigh Beenleigh is a town and suburb in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Beenleigh had a population of 8,252 people. A government survey for the new town was conducted in 1866. The town is the terminus for the Beenl ...

, to work as a bookkeeper, and in 1911 he became a clerk in the

Queensland Government Railways Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

. In August 1914, Foll enlisted in the

first Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Aug ...

and landed on the first day of the Gallipoli campaign. He was wounded in the head and leg on 19 May and was discharged medically unfit in February 1916. He married Evelyn Bush Mousley in December 1915 and they had a son (who died in infancy) and four daughters. He worked briefly as secretary to the state Minister for Railways.

Political career

Foll was elected to the Senate at the 1917 federal election 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 ...

candidate. He and John Lister were the first returned servicemen from World War I to be elected to federal parliament, although Lister took his seat first. He was 26 years at the time of his election, and 27 when his term began on 1 July 1917. He remained the youngest-ever senator until 1990, when

Bill O'Chee William George "Bill" O'Chee (born 19 June 1965) is an Australian politician. He was a National Party member of the Australian Senate from 1990 to 1999, representing the state of Queensland. Biography O'Chee was born to a Chinese father and a ...

(another Queenslander) was appointed at the age of 24. Foll served continuously in the Senate until 1947, and from 1938 to 1947 he and Thomas Crawford were the joint Fathers of the Senate. He was a senator for 30 years; only six others have served for longer periods. Foll served as Chief Senate Whip for the Nationalists from 1926 to 1931. He became a member of the

when it was formed from the shell of the Nationalist Party in 1931. He unsuccessfully stood for

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

in 1935. From 1938 until 1941, Foll served as a

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

minister during the Prime Ministerships of

Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

Menzies Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...

Page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

and Fadden. He was Minister in Charge of War Service Homes from November 1937 until November 1938, Minister for Repatriation from November 1937 to April 1939,

from November 1938 to April 1939,

from April 1939 to October 1941 and Minister for Information from December 1940 to the fall of the Fadden government in October 1941. In 1939, Foll delivered a formal ministerial statement on the outbreak of the Second World War to the Senate, and announced the formation of the

of which he became a member. Harry Foll

In 1942, Foll enlisted in the Volunteer Defence Corps, putting his age back by one year. He continued to attend Senate sittings, for which he was granted leave without pay from the corps. Foll joined the Joint Committee on Social Security and the Committee on Censorship in 1944. The following year, he acted as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate in the absence of

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978), XTC's ''White Music'' (1978) and Dukes of Stratosphear's ''25 O'Clock'' (1985), t ...

, who himself had been substituting for

George McLeay George McLeay (6 August 1892 – 14 September 1955) was an Australian politician and senior minister in the Menzies Liberal government. Early life McLeay was born in Port Clinton, South Australia and educated at Port Clinton Public School unt ...

. Foll failed to win

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

from the

Queensland People's Party The Liberal Party of Australia (Queensland Division), branded as Liberal Queensland, was the Queensland division of the Liberal Party of Australia until 2008. It was initially formed in October 1943 as the Queensland People's Party (QPP), whic ...

(the state branch of the Liberal Party) prior to the 1946 federal election. His term ended on 1 July 1947. Foll came into conflict with fellow Queensland senator Thomas Crawford, in part due to their respective claims to the title " Father of the Senate". In July 1941, Crawford "delivered a character assassination of Foll" in the Senate chamber, alleging a conflict of interest between Foll's business interests and his membership of the War Cabinet. Foll responded by attacking Crawford's poor attendance record and his association with the Australian Sugar Producers' Association, and alleging that he had authored anonymous defamatory letters. In October 1946, Foll took out a writ of defamation against Crawford in the

Supreme Court of Queensland The Supreme Court of Queensland is the highest court in the Australian State of Queensland. It was formerly the Brisbane Supreme Court, in the colony of Queensland. The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court allows its trial division to he ...

. The case was settled out of court in 1948, with Crawford paying Foll's costs.

Later life

After leaving parliament, Foll became a grazier near

Armidale, New South Wales Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

. He wrote to Menzies complaining of financial difficulties and asked for employment to be found within the Liberal Party organisation, but none was forthcoming. He retired to

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie is a coastal town in the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. The town is located on the Tasman Sea co ...

in 1957, and died there on 7 July 1977 at the age of 87; he was granted a state funeral. He was the last surviving member of parliament elected at the 1917 election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foll, Harry 1890 births 1977 deaths Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians English emigrants to Australia People from Brixton Australian Ministers for Health Australian military personnel of World War I Volunteer Defence Corps soldiers