Walter Moffitt Marks (6 June 1875 – 31 March 1951) was an Australian lawyer and politician. He served as a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1919 to 1931, representing the

Division of Wentworth The Division of Wentworth is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. History The division was proclaimed in 1900 and was one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. The division is nam ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Early life

Marks was born in Culwulla House,

Jamberoo, New South Wales Jamberoo is a village on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia in the Municipality of Kiama. It is approximately 11.3 km inland from Kiama. At the , Jamberoo had a population of 1,667. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal w ...

and educated at

Sydney Grammar School (Praise be to God) , established = , type = Independent, day school , gender = Boys , religious_affiliation = None , slogan = , headmaster = R. B. Malpass , founder = Laurence Hynes Halloran , chairman = ...

. He was admitted as a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

in 1902. In September 1901 he married Florence Sandford. As a result of an inheritance in 1912, he was able to partly finance the building of his chambers, the twelve-storey Culwulla Chambers in

Castlereagh Street, Sydney Castlereagh Street is a major street located in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs in a north-to-south, in a one way direction only. Description Castlereagh Street's northern terminus is at the ...

, the tallest building in central Sydney until after

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 won most major Australian yachting trophies in ''Culwulla I-IV'', and participated in the trials of Sir

Thomas Lipton Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet (10 May 18482 October 1931) was a Scotsman of Ulster-Scots parentage who was a self-made man, as company founder of Lipton Tea, merchant, philanthropist and yachtsman who lost 5 straight America's Cup m ...

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

challenger, ''Shamrock IV'' in 1914. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he joined the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

and served as a lieutenant in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

, commanded a gunnery school in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and returned to Australia in 1918 to encourage military recruitment.

Politics

Marks was elected to parliament at the 1919 federal election, winning the

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 ...

. In a speech to the House of Representatives on 3 November 1921, Marks predicted that

Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...

would occur in 1934. He said that the Bible had foretold that a great battle would be fought in Jerusalem between the British Empire on one side and Germany, Russia and another great nation on the other side. This would be followed by the

Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messi ...

of Christ, who would direct the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

to collect his chosen people from around the world and bring them to Palestine. Marks had been considered for promotion to a ministerial post, but was passed over. ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' noted that "his utterances regarding Armageddon are believed to have interfered with his prospects". However, in December 1921 he was appointed by

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...

to the position of

undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

in the

Prime Minister's Department A cabinet department or prime minister's department is a department or other government agency that directly supports the work of the government's central executive office, usually the cabinet and/or prime minister, rather than specific ministe ...

, assisting the departmental secretary

Percy Deane Percival Edgar Deane (10 August 1890–17 August 1946) was an Australian public servant. Deane was born in Port Melbourne, the son of a carpenter. He won a scholarship to University High School, Melbourne, and then worked as a typewrite ...

and also answering questions on behalf of the prime minister in the House of Representatives. He received no official salary in the position, but additional compensation was paid to him out of the salaries of the ministers.

Stanley Bruce Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, (15 April 1883 – 25 August 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929, as leader of the Nationalist Party. Born ...

abolished the position when he succeeded Hughes as prime minister in 1923. Marks took a strong interest in foreign affairs, aviation and the film industry. He was one of seven Nationalists – including Hughes – who voted to bring down the Bruce government, forcing the 1929 election. Although he lost Nationalist Party endorsement, he was re-elected as an independent. Shortly after the election, he joined Hughes' new

Australian Party The Australian Party was a political party founded and led by Billy Hughes after his expulsion from the Nationalist Party. The party was formed in 1929, and at its peak had four members of federal parliament. It was merged into the new Unite ...

. However, his time there was short-lived, as he resigned in September 1930 over policy differences and returned to sit as an independent. Marks joined the new

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

on its formation in May 1931, but was defeated at the 1931 election by another UAP candidate,

Eric Harrison Sir Eric John Harrison, (7 September 1892 – 26 September 1974) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He was the inaugural deputy leader of the Liberal Party (1945–1956), and a government minister under four prime ministers. He was lat ...

Later life

Marks returned to his law practice after losing his seat. In 1937, he became the inaugural chairman of the Papuan Apinaipi Petroleum Company. He was commodore of the

Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC) is one of Australia's leading yacht clubs with a strong elite sailing focus located in Pittwater Newport, New South Wales. The club was formerly located at Kirribilli before relocating to its present locatio ...

for seven years. Marks died at the age of 75, following surgery in the Sydney suburb of

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

. He was survived by a son and a daughter.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Walter Moffitt Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wentworth 1875 births 1951 deaths Royal Navy officers of World War I America's Cup sailors Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Australian Party members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians