Charles Marr

The Honourable Sir Charles Marr KCVO, DSO, MC
Member of the Australian Parliament for Parkes
In office 13 December 1919 – 12 October 1929
Preceded by	Bruce Smith
Succeeded by	Edward McTiernan
In office 31 January 1931 – 21 August 1943
Preceded by	Edward McTiernan
Succeeded by	Les Haylen
Personal details
Born	23 March 1880 Petersham, New South Wales
Died	20 October 1960 (aged 80) Pymble, New South Wales
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Nationalist Party of Australia (1919–31) United Australia Party (1931–43)
Spouse(s)	Ethel May Ritchie
Education	Newington College Sydney Technical College
Occupation	Electrical engineer
Military service
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1898–c.1920s
Rank	Major
Battles/wars	First World War Mesopotamian campaign
Awards	Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Mentioned in Despatches (2)

Sir Charles William Clanan Marr KCVO, DSO, MC (23 March 1880 – 20 October 1960) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian House of Representatives and government minister.

Early life and military career

Marr was born in the Sydney suburb of Petersham and educated at Fort Street Model School, Newington College (1895)^[1] and Sydney Technical College, graduating as an electrical engineer. He joined the state Postmaster-General's Department and transferred to the federal Postmaster-General's Department in 1901. He married Ethel May Ritchie in September 1905. He took an early interest in radio broadcasting and developed this interest while in military service with the first Australian Imperial Force during World War I in Mesopotamia. He received a Military Cross in 1917 and a Distinguished Service Order in 1918.^[2]

Political career

Marr commenced his political career by winning the Nationalist Party endorsement for the seat of Parkes from the incumbent Bruce Smith, and easily won the seat in the 1919 general election.

In October 1927, he urged the Australian parliament not to highlight the past mistreatment of indigenous Australians, in order to preserve the White Australia policy:^[3]

To review the past (...) would be to unjustly misrepresent the conditions that obtain today. If we were to broadcast to the world that nearly 100 years ago the aborigines were treated in a dastardly way-and admittedly they were-we should do injury to our White Australia policy; whereas we wish to convince the world that we are as mindful of our black brethren as of the whites.

Marr lost the seat of Parkes to Edward McTiernan in 1929. However, he regained Parkes at a 1931 by-election when McTiernan resigned to join the High Court of Australia and held the seat until 1943, initially as a Nationalist and later as a member of the United Australia Party. Marr held a number of cabinet posts in the Bruce and Lyons governments, including Home and Territories, Works and Railways, Health and Repatriation.^[2]

Marr died in the Sydney suburb of Pymble, survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters. He was made a knight of the Royal Victorian Order in 1934 for his role in organising the Australian tour of the Duke of Gloucester.^[2]

Notes

1. Newington College Register of Past Students 1863–1998 (Syd, 1999) pp126
2. Lloyd, C. J. (1986). "Marr, Sir Charles William Clanan (1880–1960)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
3. John Summers (31 October 2000). "The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia and Indigenous Peoples 1901–1967". Research Paper 10 2000–01. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 6 January 2008.