Roberts, Frank Edward

Personal

Roberts, Frank Edward
Birth Date: 28 February 1913 (Melbourne, Victoria)
Death Date: 7 June 1992 (Brisbane, Queensland)
Parents: Hugh Edward Roberts and Mary Alice (nee Carpenter)
Family: Gladys Tuttle on 3 June 1936, 2 sons, 2 daughters
Education: Mittyack, Victoria; Hay, New South Wales; University of Queensland; Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law
Religion: Christian

Career

Farm labourer, 1930 to 1932; Relief worker, Brisbane City Council, 1932 to 1934; Sewerage miner, 1934; Public servant, 1935 to 1943; Barrister-at-law, 1943 to 1949; Solicitor, from 1949

Local Government Service: Lord Mayor of Brisbane, 1952 to 1955

Parliamentary Representation

House Party Electorate From To Elected/Departure Reason
Assembly ALP Nundah 3 May 1947 19 May 1956

Additional Information

Notes: Interests included fishing and reading. Controversy entered his life when he announced his intention to remain in parliament after winning the Lord Mayoralty and to keep the salaries of both jobs. He argued that he was not denying anyone of a job because the only reason he became Labor's candidate for City Hall was that no-one else wanted it. On 21 Aug 1953, Mr Roberts (who at the time was Lord Mayor of Brisbane and MLA for Nundah) resigned from the ALP in protest against Queensland Central Executive domination. He became an Independent Labor member. He was refused readmission to the party on 20 Aug 1954 but was readmitted in 1958
Sources: Image courtesy of the Brisbane City Council Library Services, BCC-B54-A989; Courier-Mail, 'Former Lord Mayor dies, aged 79,' 8 June 1992; Waterson, DB and John Arnold, A Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament: 1930-1980, (Canberra: ANU Press, 1982)
[Last Modified: Tuesday, 29 August 2017]