Granville Ryrie

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Sir Granville de Laune Ryrie, KCMG, CB, VD (1 July 1865 – 2 October 1937) was an Australian soldier and politician who served in the Second Boer War and the First World War.

Ryrie was born in Michelago, New South Wales on 1 July 1865, into a farming family. He became a jackaroo, and eventually managed his own property. In 1896 he married Mary, whom Ryrie nicknamed Mick.

Ryrie volunteered to serve in the Second Boer War, from 1899 to 1902. He was selected to serve in one of the Bushmen's Contingents, groups of light horsemen, because of his skills on horseback and in shooting. During the war he was promoted to the position of honorary Major.

In 1906, Ryrie was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the electoral district of Queanbeyan, where he served until 1910. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Australian House of Representatives at the 1910 election, but was successfully elected to the Division of North Sydney at a by-election on 11 March 1911, following the death of Hon George Edwards.

At the beginning of the First World War, Ryrie was promoted to Brigadier-General, and was given command of the Australian 2nd Light Horse Brigade, part of the Anzac Mounted Division. He joined the Battle of Gallipoli on 19 May 1915, where he was wounded twice. He was later moved to Egypt and London for respite, but rejoined the Brigade for the Sinai and Palestine campaign. He was involved in the famous charge of the light horse in the Third Battle of Gaza, in which Australian forces captured the town of Beersheba. In December 1918 he was made commander of the Australian Mounted Division, and in April 1919 was put in charge of the Australian Imperial Force. He was promoted major general in September.

After returning to Australia, Ryrie remained the Member for North Sydney. In 1920, he was made an Assistant Minister for Defence in the ministry of Billy Hughes, assisting Senator George Pearce. At the 1922 election he was elected to the newly created Division of Warringah, where he served until 1927, when he was appointed Australia's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in London. He was also an Australian delegate to the League of Nations.

Ryrie returned to Australia in 1932, and died in Sydney on 2 October 1937.

Micalago Station is still in the Ryrie family and is run by David Ryrie, Granvilles eldest grandson. David and his family still reside in the original homestead.

[edit] References

• Major General Granville de Laune Ryrie. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on November 19, 2005.