Robert Risson

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Sir Robert Risson, CB, CBE, DSO, OStJ, ED (20 April 1901 – 19 July 1992) was a soldier and public administrator. He was chairman of the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board from 1949 to 1970.

Sir Robert was born in 1901 at Ma Ma Creek near Grantham in South East Queensland. Educated at nearby Gatton High School and subsequently at Queensland University, he graduated in Civil Engineering before joining the newly formed Brisbane Tramways Trust in 1923.

He joined the Australian Army Engineers (Militia) as a Lieutenant in May 1933 and married Gwendolyn Spurgin in Brisbane in May 1934. He enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in October 1939 and saw active service with the Seventh and Ninth Divisions in the Middle East including Tobruk and El Alamein, and with the 1st Australian Corps in New Guinea. He was awarded the DSO and the CBE, and was promoted to the rank of Brigadier in March 1943.

As chairman of the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board, it was his vision and perseverance that caused Melbourne to retain and expand its electric tramways in spite of public opinion, the car-lobby and the political wishes of his masters in an era when most other cities were destroying tram networks in favour of buses and cars. Melbourne now has the largest tram network in the English speaking world and fifth largest in the world,^[1] and a tram (D1.3501) was named in his honour upon its entry to service in 2002.