I would like to find out more about a relative of Gough Whitlam.

Question

Hello, I am an amateur genealogist and gerontologist with an interest in (amongst other things) the family and forebears of former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. (He was Prime Minister from 1972 to 1975 and died in 2014 aged 98.) I am not related to them.

In the early 1970s there was a newspaper article about a man who was turning 100 and was Gough Whitlam's great-uncle. I don't remember his name except that his surname wasn't Whitlam. Is there anyone reading this who can tell me his name or any other public information about him? I would be especially interested to know what age he eventually reached and whether there have been any other relatives of Gough Whitlam who lived to a great age. The article also said that this man lived in Manning Rd, East Malvern (Victoria) and when asked his opinion of Gough, described him as "a fine chap but a terrible prime minister". But that's all I can remember now.

The article I saw would have been in the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate (in Newcastle NSW, where I grew up).

 

P.S. From his family tree I have worked out that the man's surname was probably Ware or Maddocks.

http://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Whitlam-Family-Tree-8

Comments

Chris, add Australia to your tags and more people who know about Gough Whitlam are likely to see it.

Have you contacted the archives for those papers? or a Newcastle Family History Society? They could probably help.

Answer 1

Found an arrticle is it Mr Edwin Wallis, he was married to the sister of Whitlam's father. http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/136991058?searchTerm=Whitlam,%20100,%20East%20Malvern&searchLimits=

They will probably be other articles.

I searched Whitlam, 100, East Malvern on Trove

Comments

The article is confusing as to Mr Wallis' relationship to Gough Whitlam. Your great-uncle as I understand the term is a brother or brother-in-law of your grandparent, not parent. But thanks A.C. Raper. I am sure that is the man I was looking for.

Answer 2

The National Library Trove has a lot of digitized newspapers. They only have the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate up to 1954, but the story may have been syndicated and appeared in other papers. This search may include it.