40 Facts About Henry Gullett

Sir Henry Somer Gullett KCMG CB was an Australian journalist, military historian and politician.

Henry Gullett was a war correspondent during World War I and co-authored the official history of Australia's involvement in the war.

Henry Gullett later served in federal parliament from 1925 to 1940 and held senior ministerial office.

Henry Gullett left school at the age of 12 but began a career in journalism through family connections.

Henry Gullett joined S M Bruce's government as Minister for Trade and Customs and then became deputy opposition leader after the government's defeat.

Henry Gullett held a series of senior portfolios in the United Australia Party governments of the 1930s, serving as Minister for Trade and Customs, External Affairs, Information, and Scientific and Industrial Research.

Henry Gullett was killed in the 1940 Canberra air disaster, along with two cabinet colleagues and the head of the army.

Henry Gullett was born on 26 March 1878 in the Goulburn Valley of Victoria, in either Harston or Toolamba West according to different sources.

Henry Gullett was the son of Rose Mary and Charles William Gullett; his father was born in London and his mother in Victoria.

Henry Gullett grew up on his father's farm, a half-cleared selection of 320 acres, learning "milking, ploughing, harvesting and horsemanship even as he received his schooling".

Henry Gullett left school at the age of 12 following his father's death.

Gullett was encouraged to pursue a career in journalism by his uncle Henry Gullett, who wrote for the Daily Telegraph and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Henry Gullett began his career writing on agriculture for the Geelong Advertiser, then in 1900 his uncle invited him to move to Sydney and join the staff of the Herald.

In 1908, Henry Gullett moved to England and became a London correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and The Sun, as well as working as a freelancer.

Henry Gullett developed an interest in British immigration to Australia, writing pamphlets and giving lectures for the Australian High Commission.

Henry Gullett covered the Western Front, where he was "seeing war at close quarters but was not happy to be a mere observer".

Henry Gullett briefly served as an ambulance driver, but declined a commission in the Grenadier Guards to return to Australia and enlist in the Australian Imperial Force.

Henry Gullett was recruited as a speaker in enlistment campaigns and for the "Yes" vote in the 1916 Australian conscription referendum.

Henry Gullett enlisted as a gunner in the 2nd Division's ammunition column, arriving in England in early 1917, but his age and a bout of pleurisy rendered him unfit for frontline service.

Henry Gullett was appointed officer-in-charge of the local branch of the War Records Section in May 1918, then from August was an assistant official correspondent with the AIF.

Henry Gullett was made a Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1918 for his war-time service.

Henry Gullett was present at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference as a press liaison officer to Prime Minister Billy Hughes.

In 1919, despite his dislike of Hughes, Henry Gullett accepted the prime minister's invitation to become the inaugural director of the proposed Australian War Museum, working out of the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne.

Henry Gullett resigned the following year to become the director of the Australian Immigration Bureau, but his tenure there was short as he fell out with Hughes over immigration policy.

Henry Gullett instead remained in Melbourne as the news editor of The Herald.

Henry Gullett began contemplating a political career towards the end of the war.

Henry Gullett allied himself with backbenchers holding similar views and in 1927 attracted attention by referring to Country Party leader Earle Page as "the most tragic Treasurer Australia had ever had".

Henry Gullett was appointed Minister for Trade and Customs in November 1928, following the 1928 election, but held office for less than a year before the government's defeat.

Bruce lost his seat at the 1929 election and Latham was elected as the new leader of the Nationalists; Henry Gullett became his deputy.

Henry Gullett was involved in the formation of the United Australia Party in 1931, which saw former ALP minister Joseph Lyons succeed Latham as leader of the opposition.

Henry Gullett was re-appointed Minister for Trade and Customs when the Lyons government took office in January 1932.

Henry Gullett lobbied Lyons against including the Country Party in the ministry, predicting "they will prove filthy foes and will stab you all the way from the corner".

Henry Gullett suffered from poor health on his return and resigned from the ministry in January 1933.

In October 1934, Henry Gullett was re-appointed to the ministry as a minister without portfolio with responsibility for trade treaties.

Henry Gullett travelled to England with his wife later that year to attend the Silver Jubilee of King George V, and to discuss trade with representatives of Britain and the other Dominions.

In 1936, Henry Gullett continued his work on the proposed trade deal with Japan, which was tentatively titled the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation.

Jay Pierrepont Moffat, the US Consul in Sydney, observed in his diaries that Henry Gullett "looked ill and tired" and was "constantly leaving his desk and taking some medicine at a cupboard in the corner".

Henry Gullett's health forced a second retirement from the ministry in March 1937.

Henry Gullett was killed in the Canberra air disaster in August 1940.

On 2 October 1912, Henry Gullett married Elizabeth Penelope "Penny" Frater, the daughter of the Australian writer Barbara Baynton.