Franc Falkiner

Franc Falkiner
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Riverina
In office
31 May 1913  5 September 1914
Preceded by John Chanter
Succeeded by John Chanter
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Hume
In office
5 May 1917  3 November 1919
Preceded by Robert Patten
Succeeded by Parker Moloney
Personal details
Born (1867-06-17)17 June 1867
Ararat, Victoria
Died 30 October 1929(1929-10-30) (aged 62)
Bungendore, New South Wales
Nationality Australian
Political party Liberal (191317)
Nationalist (191719)
Spouse(s) Ethel Elizabeth Howat
Occupation Property manager

Franc Brereton Sadleir Falkiner (17 June 1867 30 October 1929) was an Australian politician and grazier, born on the Ararat, Victoria goldfields to Frank Sadleir Falkiner and Emily Elizabeth, née Bazley.[1] The eldest boy among five sons and five daughters, his younger brother Otway Rothwell Falkiner would later rival him as a Merino sheep breeder.

Falkiner was educated at Geelong Church of England Grammar School, and in 1878 the family moved to the Riverina as a result of Otway's asthma. Franc managed the family properties for some time, and in 1909 became managing director of F. S. Falkiner & Sons Ltd on the death of his father.[1]

A founding member of Conargo Shire Council (formed in 1906), Falkiner's political interests were awakened by the 1910 Federal land tax, which prompted him to enter the Australian House of Representatives. He won the seat of Riverina in 1913, representing the Commonwealth Liberal Party, but lost it to the former member, John Chanter, the following year. He won Hume in 1917 for the Nationalist Party, but was defeated in his attempt to transfer to the Senate in 1919. A brusque and humorous politician, Falkiner derided Labor Prime Minister Andrew Fisher's 1912 maternity allowance as a "bangle bonus".[1]

On his departure from politics, Falkiner concentrated on breeding sheep, and was president of the Southern Riverina Pastoralists' Union, one of the founders of the Australian Stud Merino Flock Register, and a director of the Bank of New South Wales from 1919–1929.[1]

Falkiner died on 30 October 1929 at Foxlow Station, Bungendore of intracranial haemorrhage, and was survived by his wife, Ethel Elizabeth (née Howat), whom he had married on 5 May 1902, and his two sons and two daughters.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Atchison, John (1981). "Falkiner, Franc Brereton Sadleir (1867-1929)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  2. "MR. F. B. S. FALKINER.". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 31 October 1929. p. 12. Retrieved 15 January 2016.

Falkiner, Suzanne Ethel: A Love Story Macmillan, Sydney 1996

Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
John Chanter
Member for Riverina
1913–1914
Succeeded by
John Chanter
Preceded by
Robert Patten
Member for Hume
1917–1919
Succeeded by
Parker Moloney
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