Nationality English Australian Spouse Evelyn Mousley (m. 1915) Role Australian Politician | Name Harry Foll Occupation Clerk, soldier Resigned June 30, 1947 | |
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Born 30 May 1890
Brixton, London, England ( 1890-05-30 ) Died July 7, 1977, Port Macquarie, Australia Political party Nationalist Party of Australia (1917–1931) | ||
Hattil Spencer "Harry" Foll (30 May 1890 – 7 July 1977) was a long-serving Australian politician and Minister of State.
Foll was born in West Brixton, London and educated at Holy Trinity School in London. He emigrated to Australia in 1909 and worked on a station near Longreach in western Queensland, but a year later moved to Beenleigh, near Brisbane, to work as a bookkeeper. In 1911, he became a clerk in the Queensland Government Railways. In August 1914, he enlisted in the first Australian Imperial Force and landed on the first day of the Gallipoli campaign. He was wounded in the head and leg on 19 May and was discharged medically unfit in February 1916. He married Evelyn Bush Mousley in December 1915 and they had a son (who died in infancy) and four daughters. He worked briefly as Secretary to the Minister for Railways.
Political career
Foll was elected to the Senate for Queensland in 1917 as a Nationalist. He served continuously in the Senate until 1947, and from 1938 to 1947 he and Thomas Crawford were the joint Fathers of the Senate.
Senator Foll became a member of the United Australia Party when it was formed from the shell of the Nationalist Party in 1931. From 1938 until 1941, Foll served as a cabinet minister during the Prime Ministerships of Lyons, Menzies, Page and Fadden. He was Minister in Charge of War Service Homes from November 1937 until November 1938, Minister for Repatriation from November 1937 to April 1939, Minister for Health from November 1938 to April 1939, Minister for the Interior from April 1939 to October 1941 and Minister for Information from December 1940 to the fall of the Fadden government in October 1941. He retired in 1947, after having failed to gain preselection by the Queensland People's Party (subsequently absorbed into the Liberal Party) for the 1946 election.
After leaving Parliament, Foll became a grazier near Armidale, New South Wales, but retired in 1957 to Port Macquarie, where he died, survived by his wife and daughters. He was the last surviving member of the 1917-1935 Senate.