Rudall Reginald John
| Type of person | Individual |
|---|---|
| Also known as: | RJ |
| Date of birth | 1885 |
| Place of birth | Gawler |
| Principal occupation | Lawyer, Soldier, and Politician |
| Date of death | 1955 |
| Place of death | North Adelaide |
Reginald John Rudall (1885-1955), lawyer and politician, was born on 27 September 1885 at Gawler, South Australia. RJ was the eldest child of Samuel Bruce Rudall and Margaret Rudall (nee McNeil), and grandson of John Rudall.
RJ attended Miss Burton's Private School in Gawler from 1895 to 1896, Queen's School in North Adelaide from 1897 to 1899, and the Collegiate School of St Peter from 1900 to 1902. He then read law at the University of Adelaide (LL.B., 1906) where he won a Stow prize. He then practised law with his father at Rudall & Rudall and in the firm G. & J. Downer. On 20 April 1907 he was admitted to the South Australian Bar.
RJ played football, cricket and tennis, and captained the Gawler Hockey Team.
In 1908 he was awarded a Rhodes scholarship. He read at Christ Church, Oxford (B.Litt., 1911) before returning to Rudall & Rudall Lawyers.
On 20 January 1914 he married Kathleen Clara Sutherland in the chapel of St Peter's College; they were to have two sons, John ('Jake') Glasgow (b.1920) and Peter Sutherland (b.1922).
Prepared by several years membership of a rifle club, and service in the King Edward's Horse at Oxford, RJ enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 11 August 1915 and was commissioned on 16 December. He trained in Egypt and England, and in December 1916 joined the 50th Battalion in France. In January 1917 he was detached to the headquarters of the 13th Brigade; next month he was promoted lieutenant. Sent to London in September 1918, he was appointed assistant-director in the newly formed A.I.F. Education Service. He took charge of the London office, as a Captain from January 1919, until he embarked for Adelaide in May.
After his A.I.F. appointment terminated, RJ returned to Rudall & Rudall Lawyers and lectured in constitutional law at the University of Adelaide from 1920 to 1925. In July 1933 he stood as the Liberal and Country League's candidate for Barossa and was elected to the House of Assembly. As a back-bencher he was a fiscal conservative, but he supported the development of free public libraries in South Australia. RJ won the seat of Angas in March 1938.
(Sir) Thomas Playford became premier in November 1938 and RJ was immediately elevated to the cabinet. As Commissioner of Crown Lands (1938-44), Minister of Lands (1944-46), Minister of Repatriation (1938-46) and Minister of Irrigation (1938-46), he was involved in the soldier-settlement scheme in a state that bore the scars of earlier unsuccessful efforts. His credentials as a returned soldier, and his open-minded and judicious approach, alleviated criticism when bureaucratic and financial problems with the federal government and his own department delayed the selection and purchase of suitable land. He retained warm relations with returned servicemen and became a valuable legal adviser to the Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia.
RJ's life, however, was shattered by the deaths of his sons (Peter on the H.M.A.S. Sydney on 20 November 1941, and Jake at Buna, Papua, in December 1942).
RJ was elected as a member for Midland in 1944. He helped to steer through a recalcitrant Legislative Council bill to control the dividend rates and share issues of the virtually monopolistic Adelaide Electric Supply Co., to set up a royal commission into, and ultimately to nationalise, the company in the form of the Electricity Trust of South Australia. Invoking protection of the people against exploitation, he endeavoured to guarantee reliable and fairly priced electricity.
For the remainder of his career RJ served as Attorney-General (from April 1946), Minister of Education (April 1946 to December 1953) and Minister of Industry and Employment (from December 1953).
Survived by his wife, RJ died on New Year's Day 1955 in Calvary Hospital, North Adelaide; he was accorded a state funeral and was buried in the A.I.F. cemetery, West Terrace.
In 2007 the Town of Gawler recognised Reginald John Rudall as a Significant Identity.
The following has been provided to John Dawkins MLC by the South Australian Parliament Research Library in 2018 .....
"After spending some time in the Australian Imperial Force, Rudall returned to his practice at Gawler and lectured in constitutional law at the University of Adelaide [1920 - 25]. In July 1933 he stood as the Liberal and Country League candidate for Barossa and was elected to the House of Assembly. As a back-bencher he was a fiscal conservative, but he supported the development of free public libraries in South Australia. With the abolition of multi-member electorates, Rudall won the seat of Angas in 1938.
After Sir Thomas Playford became Premier in November 1938, Rudall was immediately elevated to the Cabinet. As Commissioner of Crown Lands [1938-44], Minister of Lands [1944-46], Minister of Repatriation [1938-46] and Minister of Irrigation [1938-46], he was involved in the soldier-settlement scheme in a state that bore the scars of earlier unsuccessful efforts. His credentials as a returned soldier, and his open-minded and judicious approach, alleviated criticism when bureaucratic and financial problems with the Federal Government and his own department delayed the selection and purchase of suitable land. He shared a great sympathy for returned soldiers and took the task on with a real sense of personal responsibility. Mr and Mrs Rudall lost both of their sons during the war - Peter went down in HMAS Sydney and John was killed in action in New Guinea.
Rudall's main work was to lie within the field of education. he was Minister for Education from 1946 until 1953. In this post-war era he had the difficult problem of providing enough schools and teachers for the rapidly growing number of children. he also faced unrelenting competition in sourcing the materials and labour required to build, renovate and extend schools. There was hardly a school, however small or remote, that he did not visit and where he is not remembered affectionately by children, teachers and parents. Colleagues described him as 'a tremendous worker at anything he took up, and once he undertook a project, no one could do it better. Education was his great interest in the latter years of his life. For it he worked unremittingly and he battled in the face of all kinds of difficulties even when his health was failing'.
Reginald Rudall was the Attorney-General from 1946 until his death in January 1955. He was given a State funeral on 4th January 1955."
Please click here for photos of Reginald John Rudall.
Reginald John Rudall Residence
In 1939 Reginald John Rudall (solicitor) & wife Kathleen Clara Rudall (home duties) were residing ‘off 2 Daly Street’, Gawler.[1] It is likely this is the 1880s house now known as 2A Daly Street, accessed via a laneway from Daly Street (it can be seen looking down over Calton Road).
Rudall Family Birth, Death & Marriage Information
RUDALL, Reginald John
b. 27 Sep 1885, Gawler, SA (Reg. Barossa 362/165)
m. 20 Jan 1914, SUTHERLAND, Kathleen Clara, St Peters College Chapel, Hackney, SA (Reg. Norwood 258/162)
Enlisted 11 Aug 1915 Australian Army WWI
d. 1 Jan 1955, North Adelaide, SA
Buried 4 Jan 1955, West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide, SA (Light Oval, Row 4S, Aspect W, Site Number 0A)
SUTHERLAND, Kathleen Clara (RUDALL)
b. 12 Oct 1886, Adelaide, SA (Reg. Adelaide 392/12, father ‘Hamilton D'arcy Sutherland’ & mother ‘Eleanor Ford’
m. 20 Jan 1914 ‘RUDALL Reginald John’, St Peters College Chapel, Hackney, SA (Reg. Norwood 258/162)
d. 13 Aug 1858, North Adelaide, SA (Reg. SA 878/4807)
Cremated Centennial Park Cemetery, Pasadena, SA
Children of Reginald John Rudall and Kathleen Clara nee Sutherland
The couple only had 2 children, both were sons and both were killed in WWII (they were great grandsons of significant Gawler identity John Rudall)
RUDALL, John Glasgow ‘Jake’
b. 20 Jun 1920, Gawler, SA (Reg. Barossa 60A/459, father ‘Reginald John RUDALL’)
Enlisted Army WWII, served as Leiut AIF (Service Number SX10394)
d. 28 Dec 1942, New Guinea, serving WWII, aged 22 (Reg. Australia 659/451g)
Buried Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery, New Guinea
RUDALL, Peter Sutherland
b. 31 May 1922, Gawler, SA (Reg. Barossa 98A/534, father ‘Reginald John RUDALL’)
Enlisted 30 Jul 1940 Army WWII, Keswick, SA
Discharged 1 Dec 1940 to Royal Australian Navy (RAN), served WWII as Ordinary Seaman (Service Number PA2017)
d. 20 Nov 1941, at sea, serving WWII (HMAS Sydney sinking), aged 19
Memorial Plymouth Naval Memorial, Plymouth, Devon, England (Panel 60 Column 3)
Memories of Rudall Reginald John
[[Rememberer::David Kranz ]] remembers: Reg Rudall and local butcher, Tom Stanley, were both known to enjoy a drink at the Gawler Arms Hotel. On one occasion, Tom posed a ‘hypothetical’ that had legal implications. This was the gist of it.
‘If a customer’s dog came into my shop and pulled a string of sausages off the rack onto the sawdust floor, could I send a bill to the owner?’
Reg assured him that that would be a perfectly legal thing to do. A few days later, the Rudall household got a bill for four shillings and sixpence for the said sausages.
Two days later Tom Stanley got an account on ‘Rudall and Rudall’ letterhead that read. For professional advice: One guinea (A guinea was equivalent to 21 shillings.)
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