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Charles Allan Seymour HAWKER was the son of Michael Seymour HAWKER & Elizabeth Begg MCFARLANE and was born on the 16th of May 1894 at Bungaree Station Homestead, near Clare, SA.

His father was born on the 19th of February 1857 in Walkerville, SA and was the son of Sir George Charles HAWKER & Lady Elizabeth Conway SEYMOUR.

His mother was born on the 11th of December 1866 at “Wellington Lodge”, Lake Alexandrina, SA and was the daughter of Allan MCFARLANE & Susannah HECTOR.

Michael & Elizabeth were married on the 9th of June 1891 in St Andrews Church, Walkerville, SA.

Charles was the second child born into this family of 5 children, 3 boys & 2 girls.

Charles’s Siblings;

(1) John Allan HAWKER (18.10.1892 – 19.10.1892). He died as an infant.

(2) Alice Isabelle HAWKER (26.06.1896 – 31.08.1971). She never married.

(3) Kathleen Lilias HAWKER (05.03.1900 – 26.09.1975). She married Richard William NEEDHAM on 06.05.1933 in Aldgate, SA. No children

(4) Michael Seymour HAWKER (05.02.1903 – 13.10.1986). He married Patricia Monkton SYNNOT on 01.02.1941 in Christ Church, South Yarra, VIC. No children

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His father was the station manager of Bungaree Station, the Hawker Family stations.

It was here that Charles’s grandfather, George Charles HAWKER (1818 – 1895), had settled in 1841 and begun the accumulation of a vast pastoral empire.

The story of Bungaree Station begins on Christmas Day 1841, when George Charles Hawker and his brothers, James and Charles, selected this as the site for their "head station". They had purchased 2000 ewes from NSW, and on advice of the explorer, Edward John Eyre, went looking for sufficient good land along the Hutt River. They found "good drinkable water at a depth of 8 feet and plenty of it" and named the property “Bungaree”, after the aboriginal name for the area.

Bungaree became the headquarters of one of Australia’s most successful sheep flocks, running 100,000 merino sheep at a time when the country was said to "ride on the sheep’s back". With over 50 staff and their families living on the property, Bungaree soon resembled a small village, with its own Store, School, District Council Chambers, Blacksmith Shop and Church, as well as the Woolshed, Shearers Quarters, Homestead, Manager's House and other staff cottages.

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From his family Charles inherited a tradition of patriotism, loyalty to the Crown, attachment to Great Britain and parliamentary service.

Charles was first educated in the little school on Bungaree Station and then Geelong Church of England Grammar School, Victoria, and from his early years had a fascination with politics that sometimes amazed his youthful friends who did not share his interest.

Charles distinguished himself as a scholar and athlete and from 1913 at Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1919; M.A., 1922), where he read history.

In May 1913 he began studies at Cambridge University, England, where he joined the Officer Training Corps.

When war was declared Charles joined the newly raised 6th (Service) Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) on the 28th of August 1914.

Back in Australian in this same month, his uncle; Richard Macdonell Hawker donated his extensive stuff farm that surrounded the Morphettville racecourse at the disposal of the Military.

Charles trained at Aldershot and at Witley Camp, near Godalming. His Battalion formed part of the 43rd Infantry Brigade in the 14th (Light) Division.

They sailed for Boulogne on the 21st of May 1915 and spent their first months on the Western Front in the Ypres sector.

On the 1st of August 1915 Charles was commissioned as a temporary lieutenant and then 15 days later he was wounded.

During August and September, the 6th SLI remained in the Ypres area, mainly in camp west of that city or in front line trenches near Hooge.

They then moved up to the front-line trenches near Railway Wood on the 23rd and 24th of September in preparation for the second Attack on Bellewaarde.

On the 25th of September, they were given orders to attack and during the advance up the communication trenches the supports were heavily shelled.

A machine gun on a flank opened fire in return and Charles was seriously wounded, losing his left eye and suffering horrific injuries to his arms and legs.

After recuperating from fourteen operations he was attached in 1917 to the regiment's 1st (Regular) Battalion in England. Although classified unfit for active service, he insisted on returning to the front.

With tenacity he regained something of his former health and, despite his disabilities, took a bombing course and returned to the front line. Commissioned as captain in May 1917, in charge of his company, he was sent back to France and fought at Passchendaele.

On the 4th of October 1917, at Broodseinde during the 3rd battle of Ypres he was terribly wounded, this time by shelling from his own artillery. His spine damaged and he was paralysed from the waist down.

He was told he would not walk again but, through dogged persistence, he resumed his course at Cambridge and completed it with distinction.

After a series of operations, and through sheer determination, he was able to walk with two sticks (although his legs were in surgical irons to the end of his life).

He was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal & Victory Medal.

Charles returned to South Australia on the 18th of February 1920, he spent much time at his father’s property, North Bungaree. It was here, on rocky hillsides, that he forced himself to walk unaided.

He studied wool classing, forestry and botany and took an increasing interest in the family properties.

In 1921 he joined the State council of the Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia and served as vice-president. His father gave him “Warrakimo”, a run in the Flinders Ranges and in 1925 he bought himself “Dillowie”, a property near Hallett where he shared a galvanized iron cottage with his manager. That year he also travelled to England for a further operation, taking the opportunity to visit woollen mills at Bradford and return via the United States of America to examine rural industries.

His knowledge of marketing problems led to him becoming in February 1928 the South Australian member of the Commonwealth Board of Trade.

His economic thinking, as the Depression deepened, was coloured by his conviction that the countries of the British Empire should act as an economic unit and by his opposition to sectional and State interests in Australia. He believed that Australia's prosperity depended on the export value of its primary produce, but he pleaded for equality of sacrifice throughout the nation and strongly opposed any selfish national policies which might embarrass Great Britain.

From September 1927 to 1930 he was president of the new Liberal Federation of South Australia. During this time he worked hard to unite the anti-Labor forces in South Australia, but although he made many overtures to the Country Party the breach was not healed till 1932 when the Liberal Country League was formed.

In 1929 he entered the House of Representatives as member for Wakefield, when in the Australia-wide landslide to Labor the Prime Minister, Stanley (Viscount) Bruce, lost his seat and Charles offered to resign in his favour.

In January 1932 at (Sir) John Latham's request, and despite his own misgivings about Charles’s individualism, Prime Minister Joe Lyons appointed Charles minister for markets and repatriation.

The Country Party was not represented in the cabinet, so Charles was the only expert on rural affairs. When the markets portfolio was renamed in April 1932 he became the first minister of commerce, until he resigned on the 23rd of September over the issue of reduction of members' salaries, to which he was committed. In the debate on the financial emergency bill he crossed the floor to vote in a minority of eight, 'the hardest walk in my life' and one that caused political consternation. His detractors asserted that as a 'rich man' he could easily afford the reduction, but, in fact, he had lost heavily by drought and low prices and carried a mortgage on Dillowie.

The act cost Charles dearly in political terms.

In November 1932, in a widely acclaimed speech, he forcefully defended the provisions of the Ottawa Agreement, for which as minister he had helped to prepare the Australian case. He continued to monitor the government's failure to implement the agreement or to reduce tariffs and in 1933 denounced what he saw as a policy of 'government of the feeble for the greedy'. A recognized spokesman for the primary producer, he argued constantly for reduced costs and charges and for stabilized prices, as expounded in his pamphlet Problems of the Wheatgrower (1934). The development and improvement of the viticulture and fruit-growing industries were also among his crusades.

In the 1934 election he was a highly successful campaign director for the Liberal Country League, promoting the composite Lyons-Page ministry that resulted. His own election margin was greatly increased in his wheat-growing electorate.

Charles travelled widely, often in his own specially adapted car but increasingly by air. In 1935 he toured England, France and Germany to investigate livestock and agricultural conditions and marketing arrangements. At Lyons's request he acted as consultant to the negotiations on meat at the Imperial Trade Conference. The growing anxiety about Hitler heightened his interest in Empire unity and defence and precipitated him into an examination of modern military equipment and organization.

He also spent three weeks travelling in the Soviet Union, publishing his observations in a pamphlet An Australian Looks at Russian Farms (1936).

Charles visited Japan in 1936 and was drawn into the negotiation of a new Australian trade policy that severely strained relations with Japan. He favoured a more generous understanding with Japan in the interests of security as well as marketing and contributed an article to the Australia Asiatic Bulletin (April 1937) on the dispute.

He also visited Peking and Shanghai and was able to bring a wealth of first-hand information to parliamentary debates. Generous-minded and charming he was appreciated as a convincing speaker with a comprehensive grasp of national and international issues.

At the British Commonwealth Relations Conference in September 1938 at Lapstone, New South Wales, he delivered a paper on 'Australia's foreign trade treaties'.

In 1937 he unsuccessfully led the 'Yes' case in South Australia in the referendum for Commonwealth control of marketing and aviation.

He advocated the development of north Australia as crucial to Australia's future, and during 1938 spoke repeatedly on defence, urging some form of universal military training. Believing war inevitable he criticized inadequate defence votes and castigated isolationists in speeches that led to further press support for his re inclusion in cabinet.

On the 25th of October 1938, just as it appeared that he was to be asked to re-enter Federal Cabinet, Charles was killed when the A.N.A. aircraft Kyeema, on which he was travelling, crashed into Mount Dandenong in Victoria.

He was flying from Adelaide to Melbourne and the plane crashed into Mount Dandenong in Victoria obscured by fog apparently because the crew had mistaken either Sunbury or Gisborne for Daysleford, and believed they were leaving cloud cover for the approach to Essendon when they crashed.

His untimely death was sharply felt. He had been an outstanding and respected figure in the Federal parliament, whom some of his own party would have supported as prime minister. John Curtin, the Opposition leader, believed he had been on the threshold of great achievements. His patrician politics, as well as his courage and determination, had already given rise to what was to become a 'Hawker legend'. He reassured and influenced those who met him. 'It wasn't so much that he displayed physical courage', wrote one of them, 'what struck me most deeply about him was that the light never went out inside him'. His friend (Sir) Keith Hancock discerned in him 'the best that an Australian can do or be'.

The tragedy stunned the entire nation.

On the 27th of October representatives of the Parliamentary, political, commercial and social life of Australia attended a semi private funeral service for Charles in a memorial chapel in St. Kilda road, which was conducted by the chaplain of the Geelong Grammar School (the Rev. J. H Allen).

His funeral then proceeded to Springvale Crematorium and a military burial service was read by Mr. H. J. Martin, a former president of the Returned Soldiers League, who represented the Victorian branch of the league. The "Last post" was sounded over his flag-draped coffin.

He was cremated in the Springvale Crematorium and his ashes were brought to Adelaide in a bronze urn by train.

A State memorial service for Charles was held at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Adelaide the following afternoon and was conducted by the Bishop of Adelaide (Dr. Thomas), who paid a very fine tribute to Charles’s memory. There was a very large attendance at the Cathedral, it being estimated at 1,300, all sections of the people being represented.

About 30 members of his family and relatives were present. More than 100 members of the Returned Soldiers League were present, marching to the Cathedral. Other Naval and

Military officers were present, and the judiciary were represented.

The Federal Parliament was well represented, and also members of the State Parliament. The Federal Government was represented by the Postmaster-General (Senator A J McLachlan) and the Assistant Minister for Commerce (Mr. Cameron).

Mr. Makin, M.H.R., represented the Federal Opposition.

His ashes were privately buried at St. Michael’s churchyard, Bungaree Station on the 29th of October.

The following morning, by request of station employees and many others in the district, another memorial service was held for Charles in St Michael’s Church.

He has a modest memorial that he shares with his 1 day old brother; John Allan Hawker

Inscribed –

“Charles Allan Seymour Hawker, son of M.S and E.B Hawker, 1894 – 1938

Killed in the “Kyeema” Aeroplane disaster”

Two stained glass windows commemorate him above the main doors of St. Peter's Cathedral, North Adelaide. They were unveiled by the donor, Mr. Abe Shannon, and dedicated by the Bishop of Adelaide (Right Rev. Dr. A. Nutter Thomas) to the memory Charles in October 1939.

The Premier (Mr. Playford) and the Commissioner of Crown Lands (Mr Rudall) were among those who attended the ceremony. Dr. Thomas said in the course of his sermon that “Charles  was missed more than ever in these days of anxiety and stress. His patriotism, his courage, and his high sense of honor were particularly missed. Times like the present demanded pure minds, pure faith, and steady hands. Men who had honor, who would not lie and whom the spoils of office would not tempt were the ones needed today”.

Buildings at St Mark's and the Waite Institute in Adelaide, a library at Geelong Grammar School and a room in Burgmann College, Canberra, perpetuate his memory.

In 1968 a new Federal electorate was named in his honour, “Hawker”.

A portrait by J. Hanson Walker is held by the family and another by W. A. Dargie is in Parliament House, Canberra.

In 1991 the C.A.S. Hawker Scholarships, the richest undergraduate scholarships in Australia, were established by the trustees of his estate.

It is striking that the Charles Allan Seymour Hawker Memorial Scholarship Trust Fund has, since 1990, awarded more than $7 million to 139 young Australians, and almost equally to male and female applicants from across Australia.

*His sister Kathleen Lilias Needham, known as Lilias, was a generous philanthropist, biographer, and pivotal supporter of St Mark’s College. Determined to perpetuate the memory of her brother Charles Allan Seymour Hawker (a founder of the College, and a much-admired political figure), she was integral to the College’s acquisition of Hawker House and the creation of the C.A.S. Hawker Scholarship, and wrote a well-received biography of her brother. Her life of selfless service is now memorialised at St Mark’s with the Lilias Needham Medal for Service.

With Charles’s valour and courage on the battlefield were lauded by all who fought alongside him, but the conflict left grievous bodily injuries – he was lucky not to be killed. He returned from war service with one glass eye and paralysed from the waist down. As he battled past his war injuries and learnt to walk with metal braces at an agonisingly slow pace, Lilias’s respect – even adoration - for her courageous older brother grew all the greater.

Through the 1930s, Lilias had watched proudly as her brother Charles’s stature as a highly regarded federal Member of Parliament grew, even to the point of his being widely considered a possible Prime Minister.

Charles’s death was a profound blow to Lilias, who – already a recognised philanthropist in the community – would spend much of the remainder of her life dedicated to ensuring that memory of Charles’s outstanding qualities lasted into posterity. As Charles was a founder of St Mark’s College and one of its largest benefactors, Lilias became deeply interested in finding a way to memorialise him and support the College. Herein lie the origins of the purchase of “Hawker House” in 1969.

The College had been looking to expand its grounds for some time. The most appealing option was the Education Department’s Correspondence School – adjacent to the Grenfell Price Lodge – but St Mark’s finances were insufficient to fund such a purchase. Fortunately, Lilias would intervene at a critical juncture. In confidential communications with then College Council Chairman, Gavin Walkley, Lilias offered $10,000 in cash to St Mark’s to facilitate the purchase and promised a further $20,000 bequest in her will. The College Council received the news with “great enthusiasm” and was “overwhelmed by her generosity”.

The only conditions were that the property be named “Charles Hawker House” and that her donation be anonymous. The importance to her of her anonymity was such that she reiterated the point in several letters. Her request was honoured, the Correspondence School was purchased and renamed Charles Hawker House, and her identity was never revealed in her lifetime.

On her death in 1975, the College found that not only had she left the $20,000 promised for Hawker House, but also a home in North Adelaide which, on its sale, greatly strengthened the College’s fragile finances – making Lilias Needham, in Gavin Walkley’s words, “one of the major donors among the many generous benefactors of the College”.

While seeking concrete ways to memorialise her brother, Lilias Needham was also in the 1960s working to ensure that a definitive account of his life was published. His life was, as commentators pointed out, an “epic of courage and determination”. With no formal historical qualifications, Lilias was initially hesitant to write the biography. However, after a number of arrangements fell through, she resolved to embark on the endeavour herself.

The effort took years and saw Lilias comb the National Archives, write to senior members of the Commonwealth Government, and ultimately produce a truly unique product “Charles Hawker: Soldier, Pastoralist, Statesman” was published in 1969.

Lord Casey, Governor-General of Australia, said that “there is no individual whose life more deserves to have been written than Charles”, and promptly purchased 100 copies of the book. Sir Walter Crocker noted the work’s “assiduity and objectivity”, the book received favourable reviews, and Lilias’s telephone “kept ringing” in the weeks after publication as admirers sought to contact her. The book sold so well that it soon received a second edition.

Despite this success, Lilias remained modest, with one publication referring to “the self-effacing way she has kept herself out of the limelight” as “a study in itself”.

Having already done so much, Lilias did not rest, sponsoring the construction of a Charles Hawker Conference Centre at the University of Adelaide’s Waite Campus with a sizeable $150,000 donation, described by the President of the University of Adelaide’s Appeal, Sir James Irwin, as “a magnificent and generous gift and a great encouragement”. The Charles Hawker Conference Centre at Waite is still in use today.

Lilias also donated to Burgmann College at the Australian National University, where Charles is memorialised with the Hawker Room, and engaged with enthusiasm with the idea (which did not come to fruition) of renovating Hawker House at St Mark’s into a Hawker Conference Centre for possible use by the University, Church, and College.

UK, Officer Service Records, 1764-1932

Name Charles Allan Seymour Hawker
Rank Lieut
Enlistment Date 28 Aug. 1914
Regiment Somerset Light Infantry (1st Battalion)
Father M.S Hawker

Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922

Name Charles Allan Seymour Hawker
Birth Date 16 May 1894
Birth Place Bungaree
Registration Place Clare, South Australia, Australia
Father Michael Seymour Hawker
Mother Elizabeth Begg McFarlane
Page number 366
Volume Number 543