Frederick Maxwell Bradshaw (1910 – 11 May 1992) was an Australian

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, writer, and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and tr ...

. Bradshaw was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and educated at Scotch College and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. He was admitted to the

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in 1936. Bradshaw became an elder of

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Presbyterian Church in 1941. In 1959 he became procurator of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

of the

Presbyterian Church of Australia The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA) is the largest Presbyterian denomination in Australia. (The larger Uniting Church in Australia incorporated about two-thirds of the PCA in 1977.) History Beginnings When captain James Cook lande ...

(PCA). He served in that role until his death, and played a vital part in the continuation of the PCA after the formation of the

Uniting Church 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 ...

in 1977. He also became honorary legal advisor to the

Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia The Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia (PCEA) is a small Presbyterian denomination which was formed in Sydney on 10 October 1846 by three ministers and a ruling elder. As of December 2012 it consists of 13 pastoral charges with a total of ...

in 1943 and assisted them in their

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

with the Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria in 1953. Bradshaw was secretary of the Calvinistic Society, which he helped form in 1939. This group started the ''

Reformed Theological Review The ''Reformed Theological Review'' is Australia's longest-running Protestant theological journal. It was founded in 1942, with Arthur Allen, a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia, as its first editor. It stands in the Reform ...

'' in 1942. Bradshaw wrote a number of books, including ''Scottish Seceders in Victoria'' (1947), ''Rural Village to Urban Surge'' (1964), and ''The Law of Charitable Trusts in Australia'' (1983). He contributed a number of articles to the ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'' including the one on

James Clow James M. Clow (26 May 1790 – 15 March 1861) was a Presbyterian minister, in the area which now consists of the outer-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Early life and education James Clow was born at Ardoch on 26 May 1790. He edu ...

. According to Kim Rubenstein, Bradshaw was largely responsible for forcing Joan Montgomery into early retirement as Principal of Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne.

A. Donald Macleod Alistair Donald Macleod (born 1938) is a former research professor of church history at Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto. Macleod was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and studied at McGill University, Harvard University, and W ...

notes that,

Bradshaw had friends and detractors. Some found him negative and power-seeking, his legalisms petty and distracting. Others described him as "unostentatious, warm-hearted and humble."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradshaw, Frederick Maxwell 1910 births 1992 deaths Australian Presbyterians Australian barristers People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne University of Melbourne alumni