Neville Fraser
John Neville Fraser | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Toorak, Melbourne, Australia |
| Died | January 23, 1962 (aged 71) |
| Occupation(s) | Pastoralist, cricketer |
| Known for | Father of Malcolm Fraser, Prime Minister of Australia |
John Neville Fraser (6 August 1890 – 23 January 1962) was an Australian pastoralist, first-class cricketer, and the father of Malcolm Fraser, who served as Prime Minister of Australia.
Early life
Born in August 1890 in Toorak, a suburb of Melbourne, Fraser was the son of Simon Fraser, a businessman, pastoralist, and politician. His education included time at Melbourne Grammar School and Trinity College in Melbourne, followed by studies at Magdalen College, Oxford in England.
Sporting career
During his tenure at Oxford, Fraser represented Oxford University in first-class cricket beginning in 1912. Across seventeen matches until 1914, he claimed 59 wickets as a leg break googly bowler, maintaining an average of 23.57. He achieved four instances of taking five wickets in an innings, with his best bowling figures being 6 for 35 against H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI. With the bat, he accumulated 195 runs, his highest score being 33.
Military service
At the outbreak of World War I, Fraser was residing in England and enlisted in the British Army. He received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in November 1914. His rank advanced to temporary lieutenant by January 1916, and he fought in the Battle of the Somme. In December 1916, he became an acting captain and took part in the Battle of Messines in June 1917. Fraser stepped down from his acting captaincy in August 1918 and relinquished his commission after the war concluded in January 1919 before returning to Australia.
Later life
Following the death of his father in July 1919, Fraser inherited the Balpool-Nyang sheep station—a 15,000-hectare estate located near Moulamein on the Edward River within New South Wales' Riverina region. Although qualified as a lawyer, he dedicated himself to managing pastoral activities. In 1926, he wed Una Arnold (née Woolf), and they had two children, one being Malcolm Fraser who later became Prime Minister. Fraser disposed of Balpool in 1944 and moved to Nareen situated in Victoria's Western District. He passed away in Lindfield, Sydney, in January 1962.