Henry Arthur McKechnie (14 March 1915 – 2 January 1984) was a wheat grower, and member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

Early days

McKechnie was born in

Barraba Barraba is a town in the New England region of northern New South Wales, Australia. It was formerly the centre of Barraba Shire local government area, but most of this, including Barraba, was absorbed into Tamworth Regional Council in 2004. On ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, to parents William John McKechnie, and his wife Eileen Ester (née Brett) and educated at Barraba Public and Armidale high schools. In the 1930s he was a Shearer and

Ringbark Girdling, also called ring-barking, is the complete removal of the bark (consisting of cork cambium or "phellogen", phloem, cambium and sometimes going into the xylem) from around the entire circumference of either a branch or trunk of a woody ...

er, and from 1942 until the end of World War Two he served in the 8th Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (QLD).MCKECHNIE, HENRY ARTHUR
— World War II Nominal Role. Retrieved 26 February 2016. In 1952 he was a Wheat grower.

Political career

Having first served as a Councillor on Waggamba Shire, McKechnie, for the Country Party, in 1963 defeated the long serving member for Carnarvon, Paul Hilton. He was the Minister for Local Government and Electricity from 1972 until his retirement from politics in 1974. McKechnie suffered a serious stroke in 1974 forcing his retirement from politics and at the state election held just over a month later, his son

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

won Carnarvon, becoming the only father and son to have served in the Queensland cabinet in the 20th century. He was the foundation Secretary of the Goondiwindi Graziers Association, a member of the Queensland United Graziers Association and Grain Growers Association. He was patron of the Goondiwindi Show Society, the Jockey Club, and the International Club. The Glenlyon Dam and the CWA students hostel are both monuments to his hard work for the electorate.

Personal life

McKechnie was married three times, firstly to Heather May Coulton and together had three sons and one daughter. Heather died in 1950 and two years later he married Myrle May Pfingst and together had one son and three daughters. Myrle died in 1972 and a year later he married Agnes Stella Boucher (divorced 1979).Family history research
— Queensland Government births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. Retrieved 26 February 2016. During his younger days he played Rugby league for Goondiwindi and in later life was a trustee of several golf and bowling clubs. McKechnie died in

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKechnie, Henry Arthur Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1915 births 1984 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians