23 Facts About Lenox Hewitt

Sir Cyrus Lenox Simson Hewitt was an Australian public servant.

Lenox Hewitt worked closely with Prime Minister John Gorton, although his initial appointment in place of John Bunting was seen as unconventional.

Lenox Hewitt was born in St Kilda, Victoria, on 7 May 1917.

Lenox Hewitt was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne, and graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Economics, which he completed on a part-time basis while employed by BHP on a traineeship.

Lenox Hewitt's appointment was in the same anti-traditionalist mould as that of the appointment of Ainsley Gotto as Gorton's senior personal adviser.

Lenox Hewitt had a number of strikes against her: she was aged only 22, she had not had the extensive experience expected of a person in such a position, and she was a woman.

Lenox Hewitt was knighted in the 1971 New Year's Honours for his services as head of the Prime Minister's Department.

Lenox Hewitt was appointed Secretary of the newly created Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts.

Lenox Hewitt's minister was Peter Howson, who was not keen on the job.

In 1974 and 1975 Lenox Hewitt was involved in dealings with Tirath Khemlani and he played a role in the Loans Affair.

Lenox Hewitt was again in Whitlam's mind to head this department, with Wheeler to be appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank.

Lenox Hewitt ended his term in 1980 amid public controversy over not being given a further five-year term by the incumbent Liberal government of Malcolm Fraser.

Lenox Hewitt was offered only a one-year extension, but chose not to accept it.

Lenox Hewitt was interviewed by The Weekend Australian in January 2018 for the 50th anniversary of John Gorton becoming prime minister, and described Gorton as "a great reforming prime minister" whose "resignation was a great loss to Australian politics".

Lenox Hewitt remained publicly active well into old age, having outlived many of his contemporaries.

Lenox Hewitt made written submissions to parliamentary enquiries and was sometimes called as a witness to share his experience.

Lenox Hewitt was interviewed by Jenny Hocking in connection with her biography Gough Whitlam: His Time.

Lenox Hewitt died from the effects of Lewy body dementia on 28 February 2020, at an aged-care facility in Edgecliff, New South Wales.

In 1963 Lenox Hewitt was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in recognition of his service as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.

Lenox Hewitt was knighted in 1971 for his service as Secretary of the Prime Minister's Department.

Lenox Hewitt won the 1989 Tony Jannus Award for services to aviation, and was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001.

Hope Lenox Hewitt became a highly respected English lecturer at the Australian National University, and a poet and writer, among other achievements.

Patricia Lenox Hewitt long resided in the United Kingdom, where she became a Labour politician and government minister under Tony Blair.