Wood, Ernest Gaden Western, MBE (Dick)

Personal

Wood, Ernest Gaden Western, MBE  (Dick)
Birth Date: 22 November 1906 (Toowoomba, Queensland)
Death Date: 5 July 1984 (Wellington Point, Queensland)
Parents: George Orme Western Wood and Helen Portia Rosalind (nee Davidson)
Family: Mary Tudor Hill on 22 September 1938, 2 sons, 2 daugthers
Education: Rangeville State School, Toowoomba; Toowoomba Grammar School
Religion: Church of England

Career

Jackeroo; Overseer, Boulia Station, North-West Queensland; Commercial Banking Company of Sydney, working around the Darling Downs; Australian Pastoral Company; Public Servant, Lands Department; Field Officer, Northern Territory Administration, 1939; Lands Commissioner, Land Administration Commission, Queensland; Small crops farmer, Wellington Point, 1952 to 1966

Local Government Service: Councillor, Redland Shire Council, from 1958; Chairman, Redland Shire Council, from 1961 (for seven consecutive terms)

Parliamentary Representation

House Party Electorate From To Elected/Departure Reason
Assembly CP Logan 28 May 1966 17 May 1969

Additional Information

Notes: Member: Moreton Regional Coordination Council, South Coast Fire Brigades Board and the Parochial Council of the Church of England. Chairman: Redlands Strawberry Festival Committee and Redland Fruit Growers Council. He was awarded one of the first life membership honours of the Redland Lions Club. Life member: Redlands Show Society; Redlands Tourist Committee; Redlands Cricketers Club; and Redlands Agricultural, Horticultural and Industrial Society. He was sent to the Northern Territory to implement the Payne-Fletcher Report for the development of the territory. As Redland Shire Chairman, he inherited the threat of a proposed cement works at Ormiston Point. This situation was resolved when he was elected state member for Logan and he forced through the town plan. As Redland Shire Chairman, he was responsible for the building of a bridge that linked Wynnum and Cleveland, named the EGW Wood Bridge. He also preserved railway land between Cleveland and Thorneside when the steam trains were taken off and the lines removed. That decision paved the way for the electric line to be brought to the shire in the 1980s
Sources: Waterson, DB and John Arnold, Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament: 1930-1980 (Canberra: ANU Press, 1982); Bayside Bulletin, ' Big turnout for Dick Wood funeral', 20 July 2004; Redland Times, 'Community leaders pay tribute to Dick Wook', 11 July 1984; Redland Local News, 'Farewell to Redland shire's grand old man', 11 July 1984
[Last Modified: Tuesday, 11 July 2017]