If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA. Promoted rear-admiral, Kerr became Assistant Chief of Defence Staff, responsible for naval operational requirements including the Nimrod replacement aircraft, the birth of the Merlin helicopter and the Trident upgrade. On 11 November 1975, Kerr used his reserve powers as governor-general to dismiss Whitlam and his ministry, appointing Fraser to lead a caretaker government.
In addition to the powers normally exercised only on the advice of the Prime Minister, there are certain uncodified reserve powers, exercisable on the Governor-General's own initiative. In view of the impending federal election scheduled for 2 December 1972 and the knowledge that the Labor Party's longstanding policy was not to support Imperial Honours, Governor-General Sir Paul Hasluck chose not to forward such recommendations to the Queen, pending the result of the election. © 2008 - 2020 INTERESTING.COM, INC. He is primarily known for his involvement in the 1975 constitutional crisis, which culminated in his decision to dismiss the incumbent prime minister Gough Whitlam and appoint Malcolm Fraser as his replacement, unprecedented actions in Australian federal politics. We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism. Thomas of Smailholm was the son of Andrew Kerr … Enter a grandparent's name. Secondly, husband of Janet Clavering, married 1529. [22] Kerr claimed Whitlam then sought to telephone Buckingham Palace to advise Kerr's dismissal, but Whitlam has always denied this. Kerr chose to make a study of the reserve powers through his earlier professional relationship with Evatt, the author of the standard work on the reserve powers as they applied to the British Dominions, The King and His Dominion Governors (1936). Have you taken a DNA test? [9]:p.341–342 Kerr asked Barwick to advise him on whether he had the constitutional power to dismiss Whitlam, and Barwick advised him, in writing, that he did. Father of Margaret Kerr; Sir Thomas Ker of Ferniehirst and Andrew Kerr His first choice, Ken Myer, declined; he then offered the post to Mr Justice Kerr (as he then was), who accepted on condition that he could expect to have ten years in the office, and that he could represent Australia overseas as head of state. Sir John Kerr 8th Baron of Ferniehirst. John is 11 degrees from George Washington, 14 degrees from John Adams, 15 degrees from Abraham Lincoln, 19 degrees from Calvin Coolidge, 16 degrees from Harry Truman, 18 degrees from Dwight Eisenhower, 15 degrees from John Kennedy, 18 degrees from Ronald Reagan, 17 degrees from George Bush and 19 degrees from Sondra Marshall on our single family tree. He made it clear in several conversations with ministers that he did not accept the view that the Governor-General could play no role in the crisis until supply actually ran out: he saw it as his duty to help prevent things from getting to that stage.
Kerr’s skill was in administration and the mastery of detail, and in retirement he remained busy, as a member and chairman of numerous public and educational bodies. His legal career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served with the Australian Army's Directorate of Research and Civil Affairs (DORCA) and attained the rank of colonel. 1483. When Whitlam had left, Kerr summoned Fraser[9]:p.364 and asked him the same questions which Fraser claims to have answered that morning. Despite the passion of die-hard Labor supporters, furious at what they saw as an establishment plot to destroy a Labor government, Labor suffered its greatest-ever loss (7.4% down on its 1974 vote) at the hands of the Coalition, which continued to hold power until 1983. During the reign of David I (1082–1153), Hu… discoveries. Votes still out", "Sir John Kerr dies alone at 76: the storm goes on", "High rise and heritage, a town planner's dilemma, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 February 1988, "Planning chief attacks draconian harbour laws", Sydney Morning Herald, 19 October 1989, "Former Judges of the Northern Territory", The Kerr Palace Letters at the National Archives of Australia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Kerr_(governor-general)&oldid=970898342, Australian Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, Australian Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, People educated at Fort Street High School, Judges of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory, Judges of the Commonwealth Industrial Court, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2014, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2009, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Scotland. In 1946 he became principal of the Australian School of Pacific Administration and the first Secretary-General of the South Pacific Commission.
On 17 October, Whitlam told an interviewer that the Governor-General could not intervene in the crisis in view of the convention that he must always act on the advice of his Prime Minister. Birth of Sir John Kerr of Ferniehirst, Lord of Ferni... Death of Sir John Kerr of Ferniehirst, Lord of Ferni... Burial of Sir John Kerr of Ferniehirst, Lord of Fern... 8th Baron of Fennehurst, Lord and 8th Baron of Fernierhirst castle.
Admiral Sir John Kerr, who has died aged 82, was Chief of Defence Intelligence during the collapse of the Soviet Union; for much of 1988–91 he was also vice-chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee – “an especially fascinating time … three years of one of the most interesting times in my service career”. The Whitlam Government had won a second term in May 1974 following a double dissolution and picked up an additional three Senate seats, leaving it on equal numbers with the Liberal-Country party coalition and with the balance of power held by two independents. The JIC analysed both open and classified intelligence from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, while Kerr’s own staff had specific responsibilities for mainly technical assessments. He is best known for his studies of the embryology of lungfishes. He disliked what he saw as the Labor Party's leftward trend under Evatt's leadership, but was not attracted to the breakaway group, the Democratic Labor Party. [19]:p.277 Kerr told Whitlam and other government ministers that he considered Ellicott's view to be 'bullshit'. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. He was subject to relentless harassment whenever he appeared in public. On 6 November Whitlam informed Kerr that, if the Opposition continued to deny a vote on Supply in the Senate, he would call an early half-Senate election the following Tuesday—11 November 1975. Sir John Robert Kerr, AK, GCMG, GCVO, QC (24 September 1914 – 24 March 1991) was an Australian barrister and judge who served as the 18th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1974 to 1977.
Sir John Kerr. "[9]:p.356 Fraser later claimed that Kerr telephoned him[19]:p.292 and asked him whether, if he were commissioned as Prime Minister, he would: Fraser recalled answering "yes" to all these questions. In his memoirs Kerr denied making such a phone call to Fraser, but Fraser was adamant in all subsequent accounts that he did. Leave a message for others who see this profile. He immediately granted Fraser's request for a double dissolution, leading to a federal election which saw Whitlam and the ALP defeated in a landslide.
[40] When the category of Knight was added to the Order on 24 May 1976, he was made Principal Knight of the Order (AK). Kerr's father knew Evatt through his membership of the Labor Party (which Evatt would eventually lead), and had helped him on his successful campaign for the state seat of Balmain in 1925. [36], John Kerr was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) on 1 January 1966 for services as President of the Law Council of Australia. 1559. In the ensuing election campaign, the Australian Labor Party's focus was predominantly on the asserted illegitimacy of the dismissal (with the slogan of "Shame Fraser, Shame"), while the Coalition focused on criticism of Labor's economic management. Time in the minesweeper Ashton in the Red Sea gave him an opportunity to visit Aqaba and Palestine, clutching a copy of T E Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
In the 1950s he had become a QC. Converted prices are advisory, at today's rates. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. Genealogy profile for Sir John Kerr of Ferniehirst, Lord of Ferniehirst Castle
The National Library of Australia's Copies Direct service lets you purchase higher quality, larger sized photocopies or electronic copies of newspapers pages. For this reason, he was keen to see the crisis brought to an early conclusion. Son of Sir Andrew Kerr of Ferniehirst, Kt. You must have JavaScript enabled in your browser to utilize the functionality of this website. 1483 . Kerr was appointed Chief Justice of New South Wales in 1972. The second Lady Kerr died in 1997, survived by the two children of her first marriage. One of his closest friends was Ken Gee, who eventually joined him on the judiciary but was also known for his flirtation with Trotskyism. Kerr served as chairman of that organisation until 1970.[9]:p.172. In 1966 Kerr was appointed a judge of the Commonwealth Industrial Court and, later, to several other judicial positions. Brother of Sir Thomas Kerr, Kt. [3], Ferniehirst Castle was originally built around 1490.
Kerr died alone in his home in Sydney in 1991 from a brain tumour, survived by his three children and his second wife. He was the eldest of three children born to Laura May (née Cardwell) and Harry Kerr; his younger brother Dudley was born in 1917 and younger sister Elaine in 1926. The news that Whitlam had been dismissed spread across Australia during the afternoon, resulting in angry protest demonstrations by his supporters. Just one grandparent can lead you to many His interest in education led him to a long association with Manchester University, and to be its Pro-Chancellor between 2004 and 2012. Basket totals may not add exactly due to rounding.
After Gough Whitlam's election, Hasluck asked him if he were willing to endorse McMahon's recommendation for Kerr's knighthood, but he declined. Kerr appears to have made up his mind on 9 November to dismiss Whitlam. 1483-1559. [12], He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1977 on the instigation of Malcolm Fraser. During 1975 the government was enveloped by a series of ministerial scandals (the "Loans Affair"), which resulted in the sacking of two senior ministers, Rex Connor and Deputy Prime Minister, Jim Cairns. Sir Paul Hasluck was due to retire as Governor-General in July 1974, and the prime minister, Gough Whitlam, needed to find a suitable replacement. However, Kerr’s intellect was needed on the naval staff of the Ministry of Defence, where he served two appointments, as a commander in naval plans responsible for long-term planning and budgeting, and then – made one of the youngest captains in the Navy – as assistant director of operational requirements responsible for policy and strategy. John Kerr was the second son of Sir Andrew "Dand" Kerr (1470-1545) and his wife Janet Home.He was born around 1500. On the nomination of ALP prime minister Gough Whitlam, Kerr was appointed governor-general in July 1974. 2016) p. xiii, Jenny Hocking The Dismissal Dossier: Everything You Were Never Meant to Know About November 1975 updated edition (MUP. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. [5], John Kerr was warden of the Middle Marches and heritable Bailie of Jedburgh. "[30]:p282 He therefore moved to London "where he could be seen most days, usually the worse for wear, at one or other gentleman's club. Mr Fraser was not told why I wanted him to come. Birth • 4 Sources. [17] With the full support of caucus Whitlam announced that if the Opposition continued to block Supply in the Senate, he would call an early half-Senate election in December.