Sir Winton George Turnbull, (13 December 1899 – 15 January 1980) was an Australian politician.

Early life

Turnbull was born at

Hamilton, Victoria Hamilton is a large town in south-western Victoria, Australia, at the intersection of the Glenelg Highway and the Henty Highway. The Hamilton Highway connects it to Geelong. Hamilton is in the federal Division of Wannon, and is in the Southern ...

to farmer Adam Beverly Turnbull and Georgina Agnes, née Drummond. He was mostly educated by his mother, although he did attend state schools for short periods. Following his father's death in 1922, Turnbull and his mother moved to

Warracknabeal Warracknabeal ( ) is a wheatbelt town in the Australian state of Victoria. Situated on the banks of the Yarriambiack Creek, 330 km north-west of Melbourne, it is the business and services centre of the northern Wimmera and southern Mallee d ...

, where he was employed as an auctioneer. He took part in several public speaking competitions before he and his mother moved to

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

1933. During this time, he became interested in politics, joining the Country Party. He attempted to run for the Country Party in 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 ...

seat of

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in 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 population of 100,991, makin ...

in 1937, and attempted to take 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 ...

seat of Lowan in 1940, but was unsuccessful in both. In July 1940, Turnbull enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and was sent to

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

. He was captured at the 1942 fall of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and was a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

for three and a half years at

Changi Changi () is a planning area located in the geographical region of Tanah Merah in the East Region of Singapore. Sharing borders with Pasir Ris and Tampines to the west, Changi Bay to the southeast, the South China Sea to the east and the Sera ...

, where he organised debates among the prisoners. At the end of the war he returned to Australia, unsuccessfully contesting the Legislative Assembly seat of

Borung Borung is a locality in north central Victoria, Australia. The locality is in the Shire of Loddon, north west of the state capital, Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous ...

Federal politics

In 1946, Turnbull was elected in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to the federal seat of

Wimmera The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Austral ...

for the Country Party. He was subsequently discharged from the army in order to sit in the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. He married

tailoress A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

Beryl Bradley on 22 December 1947 at Essendon. Turnbull was a dedicated parliamentarian who never missed a parliamentary sitting. After his home was transferred to the newly created Mallee in 1949; he transferred there and was easily elected. He was appointed Country Party whip in 1956, and in 1968 was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. He was knighted in 1972 and retired from parliament later that year. He died at

on 15 January 1980, survived by his wife; they had no children. A story told about Turnbull's interactions with

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

(perhaps apocryphal) is that during a noisy parliamentary moment, Turnbull said "After all I am a country member". To which Whitlam retorted "I remember".

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turnbull, Winton 1899 births 1980 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wimmera Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Mallee Australian auctioneers Australian Knights Bachelor Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian military personnel of World War II Australian prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Japan People from Hamilton, Victoria 20th-century Australian politicians