Peerage Record – 47392

     John Alexander Falkiner was born on 6 July 1918 at Caulfield, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia^G.¹ He was the son of Otway Rothwell Falkiner and Una Caroline le Souëf.² He died on 22 September 1942 at age 24 at Catterton, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, England^G, on a training flight.
     Record of service in the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War:

Name      FALKINER, JOHN ALEXANDER
Service      Royal Australian Air Force
Service Number      400952
Date of Birth      6 Jul 1918
Place of Birth      CAULFIELD, VIC
Date of Enlistment      11 Dec 1940
Locality on Enlistment      Unknown
Place of Enlistment      SYDNEY, NSW
Date of Death      22 Sep 1942
Rank      Flight Lieutenant
Posting on Death      460 Squadron
WW2 Honours and Gallantry      None for display
Prisoner of War      No
Roll of Honour      URANA NSW
___

Died in a training flight in England in a Halifax bomber. Aircraft belonged to 1656 Conversion Flight. Training exercise including tank changing, 3 engine flying, cross wind landings and demonstration of rudder stall. Aircraft crashed a quarter of a mile east of ‘Middle Farm’, Catterton, Yorkshire near Tadcaster, UK.^1,3

     Charles Leslie Sadleir Falkiner was born on 14 December 1900 at North Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia^G.¹ He was the son of Otway Rothwell Falkiner and Elizabeth McLaurin.² He married, firstly, Irene Ida Forsayth on 4 December 1924 at Woollahra, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a NSW BDM index no. 15979/1924 marriage. He married, secondly, Mary Evelyn Kiel in 1948 at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a NSW BDM index no. 8233/1948 marriage. He died on 2 July 1960 at age 59 at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia^G, BDM index no. 24164/1960.³
     Charles Leslie Sadleir Falkiner also went by the nick-name of Les.

     Franc Brereton Sadleir Falkiner was born on 17 June 1867 at Ararat, Victoria, Australia^G.¹ He was the son of Franc Sadleir Falkiner and Emily Elizabeth Bazley.² He married Ethel Elizabeth Howat on 5 May 1902 at Scots Church, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia^G.¹ He died on 30 October 1929 at age 62 at “Foxlow”, via Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia^G.³
     He was Pastoralist; politician; company director. He was educated Geelong Church of England Grammar School. Following adapted from Australian Dictionary of Biography article on the two Falkiner brothers, Franc Brereton Sadleir and Otway Rothwell:

FALKINER, FRANC BRERETON SADLEIR (1867-1929) , sheep breeder, was born on 17 June 1867 at Ararat, Victoria, eldest son of Franc Sadleir Falkiner, a sheep-farmer from Tipperary, Ireland, and his wife Emily Elizabeth, née Bazley, who had been born at sea. In 1878 Franc’s brother Otway’s asthma prompted the family to move to the Riverina, where their father bought Boonoke North and its merino stud from the Peppins. Franc was educated at Geelong Church of England Grammar School. Franc managed Moonbria from January 1885, then Tuppal from 1891 for his father, gaining much practical experience; from 1890 Otway became studmaster. On their father’s death in 1909 Franc became managing director of F. S. Falkiner & Sons Ltd, formed in 1899, while Otway continued as stud-master until 1953.

Known as ‘Bert’, Franc was a foundation member of Conargo Shire Council in 1906. His interest in politics was aroused by the 1910 Federal land tax; in 1913 he entered the House of Representatives for Riverina, defeating J. M. Chanter, who turned the tables next year. In 1917-19 Falkiner held Hume for the Nationalists, but was defeated for the Senate in the 1919 elections. A large man, balding, with a bristling moustache, he was an impatient parliamentarian, brusque and humorous; he coined the phrase ‘bangle bonus’ for Andrew Fisher’s 1912 maternity allowance.

After losing Riverina, Franc had sold his shares in F. S. Falkiner & Sons to his brothers in 1914 and in 1916 bought Haddon Rig near Warren and its Wanganella-based stud flock from James Richmond. Falkiner sold the outside block, improved the homestead’s water-supply and consolidated an 80,000-acre (32,375 ha) property. His concentration on burly, robust, plain-bodied merinos was rewarded with successes at the Sydney Sheep Show (1922, 1923) and the Sydney ram sales in 1924. At Foxlow, Bungendore, bought as drought relief pasture in 1920, and at Haddon Rig, he also bred Red Poll Hereford cattle and Percheron horses.

A growers’ representative on the Central Wool Committee from 1917, Falkiner was a member of the British Australian Wool Realisation Association Ltd in 1920-26. He was also president of the Southern Riverina Pastoralists’ Union (representing it on the Pastoralists’ Federal Council of Australia in 1915) and the New South Wales Sheepbreeders’ Association (1919-1926), a founder of the Australian Stud Merino Flock Register and a director of the Bank of New South Wales 1919-29, Pitt, Son & Badgery Ltd, and the Commercial Union Assurance Co. Ltd.

Falkiner died of intracranial haemorrhage at Foxlow on 30 October 1929 and was buried with Anglican rites in the churchyard of St Thomas, Carwoola, on the eve of the dedication of the Falkiner Memorial Chapel at Geelong Grammar School. Survived by his wife, Ethel Elizabeth, née Howat, whom he had married at Scots Church, Melbourne, on 5 May 1902, two sons and two daughters, he left an estate valued for probate at £434,438. In 1954 his son George gave £50,000 to the University of Sydney to establish the F. B. S. Falkiner laboratory in the Physics-Nuclear Research Foundation.
___

In 1916 Bert bought Haddon Rig, west of Dubbo, which had been founded by the king of the early squatters, William Charles Wentworth. Haddon Rig was already a top wool stud, giving Bert time to have another go at politics. But after two years he resigned and for the next 10 years concentrated on his directorships — of the Bank of NSW, the Commercial Union Assurance Co and the pastoral house of Pitt, Son & Badgery. He also had another three properties. In 1929 he was struck down by illness and died within weeks.^1,4 Franc Brereton Sadleir Falkiner also went by the nick-name of Bert.

     Norman Fraser Falkiner was born on 20 November 1872 at Ararat, Victoria, Australia^G.¹ He was the son of Franc Sadleir Falkiner and Emily Elizabeth Bazley.² He married Mary Louisa Smithwick on 18 April 1901.³ He died on 11 May 1929 at age 56 at London, England^G.¹ He was buried at Brookwood Cemetery, London, England^G.
     He was Grazier; racehorse breeder; politician.⁴ Biography from the web site of the Parliament of Victoria:

Falkiner, Norman Fraser

Born 20 November 1872 (Ararat, Victoria)
Died 11 May 1929. (London, England Brookwood cemetery, London)
Parents: Frank Sadlier, grazier, b. Ireland, and Emily Elizabeth Bazeley
Marriage: Apr 1901 Mary Louise Smithwick; 2s. 5d.
Occupation: Grazier and racehorse breeder
Religion: Church of England
Education: Geelong Grammar School

Career: With father’s pastoral firm as manager of Moonbria station, Jerilderie; subsequently managed Moira, Boonoke North and Perricote stations; left father’s employ 1915; bought and sold Tuppal, Tocumwal, Pranjip Park, East Murchison and Dhuringale, North Murchinson; established highly successful thoroughbred stud Noorilim, Murchison; bred Clydesdales and Shorthorn cattle at Moira; founded Border Leicester sheep stud at Noorilim 1925; interstate pastoral interests; racehorse owner and member Williamstown Racing Club committee; president Murchison and Dargalong Coursing Club; substantial contributor to building of Geelong Grammar chapel; left Vic. estate of £219 350. Brother of Frank Brereton Falkiner MHR Riverina 1913-1914, Hume 1914-1919. Nephew Otway McLaurin Falkiner New South Wales MLC since 1946.

Party: Nationalist

House      Electorate       Start *            End *      
MLC Melbourne South     June 1928          May 1929     

References: Victoria, ‘Parliamentary Debates’ 3 July 1929, 5-7; Argus, Age 14 May 1929; Murchison Advertiser 17 May 1929; Pastoral Review 15 June 1929
Initial data source: Browne, G, ‘Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament 1900-84’, 1985
Last update: 1985 (last date the record was checked and updated)

___

The Argus newspaper reported in part on Tuesday 14 May 1929:

‘Mr Falkiner left Melbourne in the Mongolia on March 26 to consult specialists in London in regard to his health. His condition became worse on the steamer, and immediately upon arrival he entered a nursing home.’.⁵ He lived at Noorilim, Victoria, Australia^G.⁶ He was educated at Geelong Grammer School, Geelong, Victoria, Australia^G.

     Leigh Sadleir Falkiner was born on 2 February 1880 at Geelong, Victoria, Australia^G.¹ He was the son of Franc Sadleir Falkiner and Emily Elizabeth Bazley.² He married Beatrice Lyle Young on 14 November 1914 at Christ Church, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia^G.¹ He died on 6 June 1952 at age 72 at South Yarra, Victoria, Australia^G.¹

     George Brereton Sadleir Falkiner was born on 12 February 1907 at Royal Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia^G.¹ He was the son of Franc Brereton Sadleir Falkiner and Ethel Elizabeth Howat.² He died on 15 October 1961 at age 54 at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G.¹
     Following biography from the Australian Dictionary of Biography:

FALKINER, GEORGE BRERETON SADLEIR (1907-1961), sheep breeder, was born on 12 February 1907 at Royal Park, Melbourne, third child and elder son of Victorian-born parents Franc Brereton Sadleir Falkiner, sheep breeder, and his wife Ethel Elizabeth, née Howat. George was educated at Geelong Church of England Grammar School and at St Paul’s College, University of Sydney (B.E., 1931), where he specialized in engineering technology and was a member of the rifle team that won two intervarsity competitions and the Imperial Universities’ Rifle Match in 1929. When his father died that year, Falkiner took over Haddon Rig, an 82,000-acre (33,185 ha) property near Warren. In 1930 he gained a pilot’s licence. After experiencing drought, debt and the Depression, when he brought dead wool home ‘at about three bob a time’, by the late 1930s he had spent £45,000 on improvements, including an airstrip, and Haddon Rig was operating profitably.

Returning from the United States of America after the outbreak of World War II, Falkiner set up and was chairman of Turner Parachute Pty Ltd which made 25,000 parachutes for dropping supplies in New Guinea. He was also chairman of York Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (Australasia) Pty Ltd which delivered defence equipment worth nearly £1 million. Twice rejected in 1941 for the Royal Australian Air Force because of deafness, he voluntarily flew for the Allied Works Council and in connection with the anti-aircraft defences of Sydney.

A ready innovator who was fascinated by technology, Falkiner took a keen, practical interest in a wide range of activities, including rain-making experiments, fire-fighting equipment, soil conservation, artificial stock-insemination and the scientific measurement of wool. He was one of the first studmasters to employ a resident veterinarian. An expert pilot and winner of numerous flying-trophies, he was a pioneer of rural air transport and from 1946 sent his rams by air to the Sydney sales. He had an office in O’Connell Street, Sydney: in addition to six company directorships, among them the clothing firm Scamp Pty Ltd, he ran an import-export business in partnership with his friend Clive Caldwell, a wartime flying-ace. On 2 June 1949 at the King’s Chapel of St John the Baptist, Savoy, London, Falkiner married Pauline Arnold Weir (1922-1977), a well-known equestrienne from Bowning.

In 1954 he gave £50,000 to the University of Sydney to establish a nuclear research laboratory in memory of his father. George Falkiner was governor of the university’s Nuclear Research Foundation. In 1955 he received an honorary D.Sc.

An indefatigable spokesman, writer and publicist for the wool industry, Falkiner travelled throughout the world studying the latest developments; he gave money to support wool research and promotion, strongly opposed the ban on the export of merino rams and advocated that Australian wool should be marketed abroad under a distinctive trade name. He was a council-member (from 1932), president (1958-61) and a life-member of the New South Wales Sheepbreeders’ Association; in 1959 he helped to found and was first president of the Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders. That year he gave seventy stud rams to soldier settlers. Falkiner’s enterprise and progressive thinking, backed by the skills of his general manager A. B. Ramsay and sheepclasser Malcolm McLeod, made Haddon Rig a cornerstone of the Australian wool industry and the most famous medium-strong wool merino stud in the world. In 1960 Haddon Rig topped the aggregate at the Sydney ram sales for the twentieth successive year and two rams, sold for £7350 and £8715, set world record prices. By the 1960s Haddon Rig blood accounted for 35 per cent of Australian merinos.

Short and stocky, outwardly serious, but with a good sense of humour, ‘G.B.S.’ enjoyed a flamboyant social life. In addition to the Australian Jockey, Sydney Turf and sundry picnic race clubs, he belonged to the Australian, University and Royal Sydney Golf clubs, and to the Royal Aero Club of New South Wales. Survived by his wife, two daughters and 6-year-old son, Falkiner died of cancer on 15 October 1961 in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney; following a service at St Mark’s Anglican Church, Darling Point, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered at Haddon Rig. His estate was sworn for probate at £766,629. As he willed, his pastoral interests were carried on by his executors as a company, with his wife as ‘general supervisor’ until their son attained the age of 23. A dispute over death duties was resolved in November 1972 when the Privy Council found against the executors.

Select Bibliography

S. Falkiner, Haddon Rig, the First Hundred Years (Syd, 1981); C. Massy, The Australian Merino (Melb, 1990); Pastoral Review, 16 Feb 1933, 16 Aug 1934, 17 Feb, 18 Nov 1961; Australian Quarterly, 22, June 1960, p 17; Corian, Dec 1961, p 260; Sydney Morning Herald, 23, 29 May 1936, 13 July 1939, 27 July 1940, 7, 8 Apr 1943, 6, 8 Feb 1945, 10 June 1947, 31 May 1949, 2 June 1950, 4 Dec 1953, 6, 14 Mar 1954, 6, 19, 20, 28 May, 3 June 1955, 6, 24 Jan, 10 June, 7 July 1959, 4 Jan, 2, 3, 9 Mar, 16 Apr, 30 May, 18, 23 Aug 1960, 11, 15, 22, 25 Feb, 23, 30, 31 May, 2 June, 18, 30 Sept, 16, 17 Oct 1961, 6 Mar 1969, 12, 15 July, 9 Nov 1972, 4 Sept 1977.

Author: G. P. Walsh.¹

     Ethel Elizabeth Howat married Franc Brereton Sadleir Falkiner, son of Franc Sadleir Falkiner and Emily Elizabeth Bazley, on 5 May 1902 at Scots Church, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia^G.¹
     From 5 May 1902, her married name became Falkiner.

     Mary Evelyn Kiel was born circa 1911. She married, firstly, unknown Huntley. She married, secondly, Charles Leslie Sadleir Falkiner, son of Otway Rothwell Falkiner and Elizabeth McLaurin, in 1948 at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a NSW BDM index no. 8233/1948 marriage. She died on 18 July 1986 at Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia^G.¹
     Mary Evelyn Kiel also went by the nick-name of Molly. Her married name became Huntley. Her married name became Falkiner.

     Irene Ida Forsayth married Charles Leslie Sadleir Falkiner, son of Otway Rothwell Falkiner and Elizabeth McLaurin, on 4 December 1924 at Woollahra, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a NSW BDM index no. 15979/1924 marriage. She died in 1947 at Orange, New South Wales, Australia^G, NSW BDM index no. 21523/1947.
     796E17E07F0B4D1EB5D3E93895A4F012B74E. Her married name became Falkiner.

     Harold Weedson Benson married Mary Emily Falkiner, daughter of Otway Rothwell Falkiner and Elizabeth McLaurin, in 1932 at Victoria, Australia^G.¹