Sir Keith Douglas Seaman (11 June 1920 – 30 June 2013) was Governor of South Australia from 1 September 1977 until 28 March 1982. He was the second successive governor to have been a

minister of religion In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidanc ...

, Seaman being a minister in then recently merged

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

Life

Seaman was born in

McLaren Vale, South Australia McLaren Vale is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia located about south of the Adelaide city centre and about south of the municipal seat at Noarlunga Centre. History The township was formed in 1923 from a merging ...

, on 11 June 1920. Seaman's term as governor was not without controversy. On 24 February 1978, '' The Advertiser'' in Adelaide reported that he was about to be dismissed. He was not, but was forced to admit that he had committed a "grave impropriety" prior to his appointment; it had been examined by the Uniting Church discipline committee and he had been allowed to continue his ministry. Before being appointed governor, Seaman had been superintendent of the Adelaide Central Methodist Mission (now Uniting Communities, formerly UnitingCare Wesley Adelaide), and in 1973 was a member of the National Commission on Social Welfare under

Marie Coleman Marie Yvonne Coleman, ( Burns; born 1933) is an Australian feminist, social activist, public servant and journalist. She was the first woman to head an Australian national statutory authority. She spent over 60 years campaigning against the ge ...

which was set up by Prime Minister

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

. Seaman died at his home in 2013, aged 93.

References

External links

*, The Bulletin, 2002.
Prime Minister's press conference, 3 April 1973
announcing National Commission on Social Welfare. www.whitlam.org, retrieved 2008-10-10. {{DEFAULTSORT:Seaman, Keith Governors of South Australia Uniting Church in Australia ministers 1920 births 2013 deaths Australian Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire