14 Facts About Bob Joshua

Bob Joshua was born on 6 June 1906 in Prahran, Victoria.

Bob Joshua was the son of Mary Inglis and Edward Cecil Joshua.

Bob Joshua's father was born in Mauritius, where there was a branch of the family's Melbourne-based Joshua Brothers Distillery.

Bob Joshua's paternal grandfather Saul Joshua was a member of the Solomon family and had married Ada Montefiore, the daughter of financier Joseph Barrow Montefiore.

Bob Joshua attended Caulfield State School and Wesley College, was briefly a motor mechanic, and became a teller at the Bank of Australasia.

Bob Joshua married schoolteacher Alma Agnes Watson at Glen Iris on 27 November 1929.

Bob Joshua served in the Citizens Military Force from 1924 to 1930 and from 1936 to 1940, rising to the rank of captain.

Bob Joshua led a successful raid during the defence of Tobruk in Libya, and was awarded the Military Cross.

Bob Joshua became drawn to the Australian Labor Party, and became president of the Ballarat branch.

Bob Joshua became the leader of the new party in the federal parliament.

Bob Joshua would become the first federal president of the DLP.

Bob Joshua was one of only two non-Catholic parliamentary members in the new party, the other being Jack Little, who became leader of the party in the Victorian Legislative Council.

Together with all of the other Anti-Communist members, Bob Joshua was defeated at the 1955 election, having declined an offer from Prime Minister Robert Menzies not to run a Liberal candidate in his seat.

Bob Joshua died of cancer on 2 June 1970 at Ballarat, four days before his 64th birthday, survived by his wife, son and five daughters.