Keith Wilson (South Australian politician)

Wilson was born on 3 September 1900 in Adelaide, a son of lawyer A. T. K. Wilson (died 15 August 1925) and his wife Lilian (née Laurence). He attended St Peter's Collegiate School, Adelaide, and studied law at the University of Adelaide.[1][2] His grandfather, C. A. Wilson, and great-grandfather, Thomas Wilson, were also lawyers who practised in South Australia.[3]

In 1930 he married Elizabeth "Betty" Hornabrook Bonython (25 January 1907 – 25 September 2008), born in Adelaide, the eldest daughter of Advertiser editor, and lord mayor of Adelaide, Sir John Lavington Bonython (1875–1960) and his first wife Blanche Ada Bray (1881–1908). She would be very active in community affairs, serving on the boards of a number of organisations, in recognition of which she was appointed MBE in 1946,[4] and CBE in 1959.[5]

In the 1934 Australian federal election he was, with J. L. Price, nominated by the Liberal and Country League for the seat of Boothby.[6][7] Price was the winning candidate.

In the 1937 Australian federal election, Keith was elected a Senator for South Australia for the United Australia Party, serving from 1938 to 1944. In 1940 he joined the army, continuing to serve in the Senate.[2] He was not re-elected in 1943, so when his term ended, he went on active service and became a "Rat of Tobruk", serving with the 2/7th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, in North Africa, and subsequently in Borneo.[8]

After his return, he stood in the 1949 election for the Liberal Party of Australia (which had absorbed the UAP in 1944) as its candidate in the newly created seat of Sturt, and won. He held Sturt until his defeat by Labor's Norman Makin in 1954. A redistribution ahead of the 1955 election saw most of Sturt's Labor-friendly territory shifted to newly created Bonython, which made Sturt notionally Liberal. Makin opted to contest Bonython, and Wilson retook Sturt on a large swing. He held the seat until his retirement in 1966 which resulted in his son, Ian, gaining preselection for the seat, which he subsequently won and held for over 20 years.

Wilson was knighted on 1 January 1966.[9][10] He died in Adelaide on 28 September 1987.[11] He was the last surviving member of the 1937-1944 Senate.

• "Liberal and Country League: the origins and development", by Sir Keith Wilson; Located at Barr Smith Library, University of Adelaide.