Bill McKell
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The Right Honourable Sir William McKell GCMG |
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| 12th Governor-General of Australia | |
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In office 11 March 1947 – 8 May 1953 |
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| Monarch |
George VI Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister |
Ben Chifley Robert Menzies |
| Preceded by | The Duke of Gloucester |
| Succeeded by | Sir William Slim |
| 27th Premier of New South Wales Elections: 1941, 1944 |
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In office 16 May 1941 – 6 February 1947 |
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| Governor |
The Lord Wakehurst (1941–46) Sir John Northcott (1946–47) |
| Deputy | Jack Baddeley |
| Preceded by | Alexander Mair |
| Succeeded by | James McGirr |
| Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Redfern |
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In office 24 March 1917 – 18 February 1920 |
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| Preceded by | James McGowen |
| Succeeded by | District abolished |
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In office 8 October 1927 – 6 February 1947 |
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| Preceded by | New district |
| Succeeded by | George Noble |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
26 September 1891 Pambula, New South Wales |
| Died | 11 January 1985 (aged 93) Waverley, New South Wales |
| Resting place | Northern Suburbs Crematorium, Sydney |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Pye |
Sir William John McKell GCMG (26 September 1891 – 11 January 1985) was an Australian politician, Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947, and the 12th Governor-General of Australia from 1947 to 1953. He was the longest-lived Governor-General, aged 93 when he died.
Bill McKell was born in Pambula, New South Wales, the eldest of four children. His father, Robert Pollock McKell, was a butcher who moved the family to Surry Hills in Sydney in 1898. Three years later he abandoned them. For the rest of his life, McKell concealed the matter by saying his father had died young. The family moved to Redfern, with McKell’s mother working at various menial tasks to support the family. He was educated at Bourke Street Public School in Surry Hills. McKell supplemented the family income by working part-time and then becoming a messenger boy when he left school at 13. As well as being a good student, McKell was a talented footballer, cricketer and boxer.
In 1906, McKell became an apprentice boilermaker at Mort's Dock at Balmain in Sydney. He joined the Federated Society of Boilermakers and Iron and Steel Ship-Builders and organised fellow apprentices to fight for improved conditions. Completing his articles, McKell worked for the New South Wales Government Railways from 1913-14. He became full-time Assistant Secretary of the Boilermakers' Society in 1914.
McKell was also active in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), which he joined in 1908. He was prominent in a militant faction, the Industrial Section, which took control of the Party in 1916. McKell became a member of the State Executive. When Labor split over the proposed introduction of conscription in that year, McKell was a vigorous anti-conscriptionist. James McGowen, MLA for Redfern and first ALP Premier of New South Wales, had been expelled from the party for supporting conscription. Although McGowen, a fellow boilermaker, had been something of a mentor, McKell made the painful decision to seek Labor pre-selection. He won and subsequently defeated McGowen at the 1917 election.
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