Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Sir Thomas Karran Maltby (17 October 1890 – 2 June 1976) was a politician in

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 ...

, Australia. He was a member of 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 ...

for nearly 32 years from 1929 to 1961, served in several ministries and was

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the assembly from 1947 to 1950.

Early life

Matlby was born in Barnadown, a small town near

Bendigo, Victoria Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban populat ...

, to Thomas Karran Maltby (a shopkeeper from the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

) and Ada Agnes Fascher. His father died in 1893, and his mother remarried the following year. Maltby was educated at Camp Hill Central School, but left school aged 11 to work as a newsboy and shop messenger. He attended the

Bendigo School of Mines The Bendigo School of Mines was established in Bendigo, Australia in 1873 to provide technical education, predominantly for the mining industry. It was then known as the ''Bendigo School of Mines and Industries'' from 1883 to 1959, ''Bendigo Techni ...

at night, studying to receive an engineer's certificate, while working as a battery boy and later trucker in the Bendigo gold mines.Robert Murray
'Maltby, Sir Thomas Karran (1890–1976)'
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University,, accessed 8 March 2013. Around 1909, Maltby moved to Melbourne where he worked as a labourer on the Melbourne Tramways. He later joined the sugar refinery CSR as an engine driver and clerk. In 1911, he joined the

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

(citizen army reserve) and received a commission the next year. In 1913, he married Eliza McDonald, a typist, at the Presbyterian Church in Yarraville.

Military service

Already an officer of the citizens' militia, Maltby was appointed as a lieutenant in the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Aug ...

on 16 May 1915. He embarked for Egypt in September that year, and by March 1916 was fighting on the Western Front with the Australian 5th Battalion. His 11-month-old daughter, Margaret, died of pneumonia on 30 March 1916, while Maltby was serving overseas. Maltby was wounded twice during the war, once when a bolt from an exploding rifle entered his arm in April 1917. He was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

before returning to Australia in 1919. During World War II, Maltby (a serving politician at the time) re-enlisted in the army, where he served as quartermaster general from 1940 to 1943, and was promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

.Maltby, Sir Thomas Karran
''Re-Member'' (Parliament of Victoria).

Political career

After his discharge from the army, Maltby became a storekeeper in Drysdale, then a real estate agent in Geelong. He was active in community affairs, and was president of both the Geelong Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's Imperial League and the East Geelong Progress Association (which he had founded). His first attempt at a career in state politics was in 1924, when he unsuccessfully contested the Victorian lower house seat of

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

as a

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 ...

candidate against sitting Labor member

William Brownbill William Brownbill (19 January 1864 – 29 April 1938) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly on two occasions from 1920 to 1932, then from 1935 until his death in 1938. He represented the electoral di ...

at the

1924 Victorian state election The 1924 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Thursday 26 June 1924 to elect the 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.Colin A Hughes, ''A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890-1964'', ...

. Five years later, Maltby was elected to the legislative assembly when he won the state by-election for the seat of Barwon, following the death of the Nationalist member

Edward Morley Edward Williams Morley (January 29, 1838 – February 24, 1923) was an American scientist known for his precise and accurate measurement of the atomic weight of oxygen, and for the Michelson–Morley experiment. Biography Morley was born in New ...

Crossbencher

On two occasions in his political career, Maltby had a split with the United Australia/Liberal Party and sat in the assembly on the crossbenches. In 1941, Maltby advocated for a UAP conference with the United Australia Organisation to discuss reform and reorganisation of the UAO. When the party passed a resolution refusing such a meeting, Maltby walked out of the party room meeting and moved his documents and personal effects to the Independents' room at Parliament House. He did not resign from the UAP, but disassociated himself from his party colleagues and sat on the Opposition crossbenches for several months before returning. In September 1945, Maltby was one of five Liberal Party members to cross the floor and vote with the Labor Party and the Independents to defeat an appropriation bill. The Country–Liberal coalition government of

Albert Dunstan Sir Albert Arthur Dunstan, KCMG (26 July 1882 – 14 April 1950) was an Australian politician. A member of the Country Party (now National Party), Dunstan was the 33rd premier of Victoria. His term as premier was the second-longest in th ...

and

Thomas Hollway Thomas Tuke Hollway (2 October 1906 – 30 July 1971) was the 36th Premier of Victoria, and the first to be born in the 20th century. He held office from 1947 to 1950, and again for a short period in 1952. He was originally a member and the lead ...

collapsed, and the

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and the ...

, Sir Winston Dugan commissioned

Ian Macfarlan Ian Macfarlan (born John Robert Macfarlan; 21 November 1881 – 19 March 1964) was the Deputy Leader of the Australian Liberal Party in the Australian state of Victoria during 1945. He was briefly commissioned as the 35th Premier of Victor ...

to form a "stop-gap ministry" with the sole purpose of passing supply. Maltby was appointed

Deputy Premier A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

, Chief Secretary and Minister for Electrical Undertakings in the short-lived ministry, which lasted from 2 October to 21 November 1945. Maltby was expelled from the Liberal Party for his defection, but was re-admitted to the party in 1946.

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly

On 2 December 1947, Maltby achieved what he called "a boyhood ambition" when he was elected

Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria. The presiding officer of the upper house of the Parliament of Vict ...

. Maltby was knighted in the

King's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

on 9 June 1949 for his work as Speaker.MALTBY, Thomas Karran (Knight Bachelor)
''It's an Honour'', 9 June 1949.

Hollway Ministry

In May 1950,

Arthur Warner Sir Arthur George Warner (31 July 1899 – 3 April 1966) was an English-born Australian businessman and politician. He was born in London to manager Arthur Warner and Emily Cheeseman. He attended Sir George Monoux Grammar School and worked ...

, the Minister of Electrical Undertakings, asked Premier Tom Hollway to relieve him of his duties due to a conflict of interest involving Warner's association with several electrical companies. Hollway agreed, and Maltby was one of the front runners to replace Warner in the ensuing reshuffle, provided he was not renominated as Speaker. On 19 June, Maltby was sworn into the Electrical Undertakings portfolio, as well as the Mines portfolio previously held by

Henry Bolte Sir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG (20 May 1908 – 4 January 1990) was an Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of Victoria. To date he is the longest-serving Victorian premier, having been in office for over 17 consecutive years. E ...

.Ministers of the Crown
''Victoria Government Gazette'', No. 528, 19 June 1950. However, Maltby's place in cabinet was to be once again short-lived: eight days later, the Hollway government collapsed when the Labor Party agreed to support a minority Country Party government led by John McDonald.

Bolte Ministry

At the 1955 election, Maltby's electorate of Barwon was abolished, so he stood for and won the seat of

, the seat he had contested over thirty years earlier. On 7 June, Maltby was made

Commissioner of Public Works The Walsh Act is a legislation in the U.S. state of New Jersey that permits municipalities to adopt a non-partisan commission form of government. The legislation was signed by Governor of New Jersey Woodrow Wilson on April 25, 1911. The commissi ...

in the Bolte Ministry. He was also made Minister of Housing but was replaced the next day by

Horace Petty Sir Horace Rostill Petty (25 March 1904 – 16 February 1982) was an Australian politician. He was born in Richmond to wood block engraver Frederick Charles Petty and Alice Maud Rostill. He attended University High School and then the Univ ...

. In 1959, Maltby toured public buildings and studied road building and construction in the United States and Britain. He reported on his findings in the ''Report on his mission abroad'', published in Melbourne in the same year.Maltby, Sir Thomas
Report of his mission abroad
National Library of Australia, 1959.

Death

Maltby died in Geelong, aged 85, on 2 June 1976.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Maltby, Thomas 1890 births 1976 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Vice-Presidents of the Board of Land and Works Presidents of the Board of Land and Works Chief Secretaries of Victoria Speakers of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Deputy Premiers of Victoria Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Independent members of the Parliament of Victoria Australian Knights Bachelor Australian Army officers Australian military personnel of World War I Australian military personnel of World War II Australian people of Manx descent 20th-century Australian politicians Ministers for Public Works (Victoria) Ministers for Forests (Victoria) Ministers of Mines (Victoria)