- Rupert Ryan
Rupert Sumner Ryan CMG (
6 May 1884 –25 August 1952 ) was anAustralia n soldier and politician.Early life
Ryan was born in
Melbourne to surgeon SirCharles Snodgrass Ryan and Alice Elfrida, nee Sumner. He was one of two siblings; his sister Ethel Marian Sumner would later marryRichard Casey, Baron Casey . Ryan attended Geelong Church of England Grammar School 1895-98 before travelling toEngland to complete his education atHarrow School and theRoyal Military Academy .Military service
In 1904, Ryan was commissioned in the
Royal Artillery . At the outset ofWorld War I , he was stationed on theWestern Front . At the end of the war (1919) he was alieutenant colonel , and was awarded three foreign honours and theDistinguished Service Order in 1918, having been wounded in 1915 in theBattle of Festubert .Ryan was the chief of staff to the governor of
Cologne in 1919, and was shifted to theInter-Allied Rhineland High Commission headquarters in 1920. He married Lady Rosemary Constance Ferelith, the daughter of the high commissioner theEarl of Erroll , at the British consulate on29 May 1924 . He was appointed CMG in 1928, and acted as high commissioner following Erroll's death until the end of the occupation. At his retirement from the army in 1929, he became an arms salesman with Vickers Ltd, in which capacity he travelled toMoscow andBangkok . He resigned in 1934.Ryan was divorced in 1935, whereafter he returned to Victoria to the property he had inherited near Berwick, Edrington. He and his sister built the station into a very successful
Romney Marsh stud; he also built a landing strip there in 1939. At the outbreak ofWorld War II , Ryan joined theAustralian Military Forces , holding administrative posts until 1940, when he was elected to theAustralian House of Representatives for Flinders as a member of theUnited Australia Party .Federal politics
Ryan was not particularly prominent in Parliament, serving on joint committees on social security (1941-46) and foreign affairs (1952), the latter of which he was the chairman. He was described by
Enid Lyons as "a doughty champion of women". Ryan remained in Parliament until his sudden death ofcardiac failure on25 August 1952 ; he was cremated, and survived by his son.References
*Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Langmore |first=Diane |authorlink=|year=2002|id=A160186b.htm|title= Ryan, Rupert Sumner (1884 - 1952) |accessdate=2008-03-16
Persondata
NAME=Ryan, Rupert Sumner
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australia n soldier and politician
DATE OF BIRTH=6 May 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH=Melbourne, Victoria
DATE OF DEATH=26 August 1952
PLACE OF DEATH=Berwick, Victoria
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