Sir Richard Linton (10 March 1879 – 21 September 1959) was a New Zealand-born Australian politician. He was born in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

to land valuer James Linton and Ann Kibblewhite. He migrated to Australia around 1899 and became a dispatch clerk in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. He moved to

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 ...

in 1907 as manager of the Middows Brothers paper and machinery branch there; he would eventually become managing director of the company. On 31 March 1909 he married Ethel Isabel Bannister in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand. They had two sons. In 1924 Linton established the

Big Brother Movement The Big Brother Movement was a youth migration program run by a non-profit organisation based in Sydney, Australia. It aimed to bring youths from Britain to Australia to work on farms or in the Australian outback. With the cooperation of the Austr ...

, which gave assisted passage to British youths to work on Australian farms. In 1927 he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

as the

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 ...

member for

Boroondara The City of Boroondara () is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was formed in June 1994 from the amalgamation of the Cities of Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn. It has an area of ...

. He was briefly a minister without portfolio in December 1929, and served as cabinet secretary from 1932 to 1933. In 1933 he resigned from politics to become Agent-General for Victoria in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

; he held this position until 1934 and was knighted in 1936. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was Officer in Charge of the services inquiry and advice bureau. Linton died in

East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. East Melbourne recorded a population of 4,896 at the 2021 ...

in 1959.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linton, Richard 1879 births 1959 deaths Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Australian Knights Bachelor Agents-General for Victoria New Zealand emigrants to Australia