Walter Leslie Duncan (14 February 1883 – 28 May 1947) was an Australian politician. Born in Armidale, New South Wales, he was educated at state schools before becoming a clerk, and was President of the Labor Council of New South Wales in 1911. A member of the Labor Party, he joined the Nationalists in the wake of the 1916 split over conscription. Duncan enlisted in the military in 1917, leaving in 1919 to successfully contest the Senate for the Nationalists. A strong supporter of Billy Hughes, he was excluded from the party along with Hughes in 1929 and joined the Australian Party, before being reaccepted into the United Australia Party in 1931. He resigned from the Senate in 1931.[1][2][3]
Walter Duncan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Senator for New South Wales | |
| In office 1 July 1920 – 1 December 1931 | |
| Succeeded by | Patrick Mooney |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 February 1883 Armidale, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 28 May 1947 (aged 64) West Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia |
| Political party | Labor (to 1917) Nationalist (1917–29) Independent (1929–30) Australian (1930–31) United Australia (from 1931) |
| Spouses | Ellen Riley
(m. 1910; died 1922)Kathleen Flemming
(m. 1923; died 1941)Eileen Coutman (m. 1946) |
| Relations | Edward Riley (father-in-law) Edward C. Riley (brother-in-law) |
| Occupation | Clerk |
Personal life
editDuncan married three times and had four children. His first wife Ellen Cousins Riley was the daughter of Edward Riley and the sister of Edward Charles Riley, both of whom were federal Labor MPs. They married in 1910 and had three sons, but she died in 1922. Duncan re-married the following year to Kathleen Flemming, a bank clerk, with whom he subsequently had a daughter. He was widowed a second time in 1941 and re-married in 1946 to Eileen Coutman. He died of pneumonia and nephritis on 28 May 1947 in West Tamworth, New South Wales.[3]
References
edit- ^ Carr, Adam (2008). "Australian Election Archive". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
- ^ Stephens, David (1981). "Duncan, Walter Leslie (1883–1947)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 9. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ a b Hawker, Geoffrey (2004). "Duncan, Walter Leslie (1883–1947)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Vol. 2. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
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