Sir Raymond William Garrett, (19 October 1900 – 12 October 1994) was an Australian pilot, military officer, photographer, and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. A member of the

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 ...

, Garrett served on the

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

for eighteen years, and was knighted in 1973.

Early life and career

Garrett was born in

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

, 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 ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. He was educated at Workingman's College (now

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...

) 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 ...

. At the age of 26, Garrett graduated from flying school at the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

base at

Point Cook Point Cook is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Point Cook recorded a population of 66,781 at the 2021 census. Point Cook ...

; he became a commercial pilot in 1927, and joined the Citizen Air Force. Garrett later became the first civilian instructor in the CAF. Garrett was as keen on

gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is al ...

as he was on flying aeroplanes. In 1928, he set a

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

record for gliding duration. In 1929, he founded the Gliding Club of Victoria. In 1933, he began working in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

for the Larkin Aircraft Company. Flying as the chief pilot for the company, Garrett ran the first Territory-wide mail route, and provided the air links between Darwin and other townships in the territory. In the mid-1930s, Garrett left the Northern Territory and returned to Melbourne, where he tried being a professional photographer. Garrett's interest in photography began in the 1920s, when he was one of the country's first aerial photographers. In 1934, Garrett married Vera Halliday Lugton, with whom he had four children. When

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 ...

broke out, Garrett was called up into the Royal Australian Air Force. Initially based at

RAAF Base Laverton "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

, he moved to

Mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

to take up a post as commanding officer of the RAAF training school. He retired from the Air Force in 1945, having achieved the rank of

group captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

. After the war, Garrett took his earlier love of photography and set up a successful business in

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, manufacturing photographic chemicals. He later became Chairman of Ilford (Australia) Pty Ltd. Several of his descendants shared his passion, and became professional photographers.

Politics

It was around this time that Garrett also began to dabble in politics, sitting on the council of the Shire of Doncaster and Templestowe for six years. In 1956, Garrett contested—and won—the seat of Southern Province for the Liberals. He served the electorate with distinction, and was elected

President of the Victorian Legislative Council The President of the Victorian Legislative Council, also known as the presiding officer of the council, is the presiding officer of the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house of the Parliament of Victoria and equivalent to the President of ...

in 1968. Southern Province had, by that time, become over-large and difficult to represent, and, after some redistricting, Garrett joined fellow Liberal

Vasey Houghton William Vasey Houghton MLC (3 January 1921 – 11 January 2001), better known as Vasey Houghton, was an Australian politician, grazier, and conservationist. He was one of the longest-serving members of the Victorian State Parliament, spending ...

in representing

Templestowe Province Templestowe Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council. It existed as a two-member electorate from 1967 to 2006, with members serving alternating eight-year terms. It was traditionally held by the Liberal Party, but was held b ...

. He held a seat in Templestowe until his retirement from politics in 1976.

References

* * "Sir Raymond Garrett, 93, former President of Victorian Legislative Council and wartime pilot instructor", ''The Age'', 25 October 1994. * Condolence motions, HANSARD records of the Victorian State Parliament, 14 October 1994
available online
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, Raymond 1900 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Knights Bachelor Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Presidents of the Victorian Legislative Council Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) RMIT University alumni Royal Australian Air Force officers Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Australian aviation record holders Commercial aviators People from Kew, Victoria Military personnel from Melbourne 20th-century Australian photographers Photographers from Melbourne Politicians from Melbourne