Francis George Anstey

Frank Anstey
photograph
neg.239
National Library of Australia

THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA'S
FEDERATION GATEWAY


ANSTEY, FRANCIS GEORGE (1865-1940)

Anstey was born on 18 August 1865 in London. At the age of 11 years, Frank stowed away on a full-rigged passenger vessel bound for Australia. He jumped ship in Sydney and worked the Pacific islands trade as a cabin boy.

He joined the Seamen's Union in 1883 and became an active supporter of socialism. He developed into a fiery speaker and pamphleteer, and in 1902 was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Victoria as Labor representative for East Bourke. He remained in the Assembly until 1910 when he entered the House of Representatives as a member for Bourke; (his stand on public control of finance made him a strong supporter of the creation of the Commonwealth Bank), a seat he held until his retirement in 1934.

In 1922 he became Deputy Leader of the Federal Labor Party, and from October 1929 to March 1931 he was Minister for Health and Repatriation.

When Anstey died on 30 October 1940, John Curtin paid tribute to him as a 'remarkable figure', a worker to whom the Labor movement owed much, and the man who had influenced him (Curtin) to the greatest extent.

Books of interest

Lang, J. T. (John Thomas). (1980). The Great Bust: the Depression of the Thirties . Katoomba, N.S.W.: McNamara's Books.

Anstey, Francis George. The Tocsin (1897-1906) located at mfm NX 238.

 

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