Bertram Ballard
AM
Born
Bertram Charles Ballard

(1903-01-22)22 January 1903
Toorak, Victoria, Australia
Died15 July 1981(1981-07-15) (aged 78)
Kew, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne (BA, LLB, MA)
Occupation(s)Public servant, diplomat

Bertram Charles Ballard AM (22 January 1903 – 15 July 1981) was an Australian public servant and diplomat.[1]

Life and career

Ballard was born on 22 January 1903 in Toorak, Melbourne the eldest of three children in his family. He attended Scotch College and then the University of Melbourne, graduating with first-class honours.[2]

Ballard joined the Commonwealth Public Service as Australian government solicitor in New Hebrides, Vanuatu in 1934. On 6 August 1940, Ballard was appointed Australia's first official representative in Nouméa, New Caledonia. He was tasked with encouraging war-time cooperation between New Caledonia and Australia and was also responsible for reporting to the Australian Government on economic and political affairs.[3]

He applied for a job in the Department of External Affairs in 1943.[2] In his first decade at the external affairs department, he was posted to Japan, the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), France, the Soviet Union and Switzerland.[citation needed]

In April 1952, Ballard was appointed Australia's first Minister to Thailand.[4][5] He left for Bangkok that month to take up the posting.[6]

In February 1955, the then External Affairs Minister appointed Ballard Australian Minister to Israel.[7]

Ballard retired in 1967 from his final posting as Australian Ambassador to Sweden (1965–1967).[8][9]

Ballard was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 1981 Queen's Birthday Honours for "service to the public service as a diplomatic representative".[10]

On 15 July 1981, Ballard died at Kew, Victoria.[11]

References

  1. ^ Ballard, Bertram Charles; Miller, John Donald Bruce (1975), Bertram Charles Ballard interviewed by J.D.B. Miller
  2. ^ a b Lee, David, "Ballard, Bertram Charles (1903–1981)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian National University, archived from the original on 23 June 2015
  3. ^ 75th anniversary of Australian diplomatic representation in Noumea, Australian Government, 2015, archived from the original on 14 February 2016
  4. ^ "Minister to Thailand Appointed". The West Australian. WA. 5 April 1952. p. 9.
  5. ^ "Minister to Siam: Mr. B. C. Ballard Appointed". The Sydney Morning Herald. NSW. 4 April 1952. p. 2.
  6. ^ "Mr. C. Ballard Minister to Thailand". The Canberra Times. ACT. 4 April 1952. p. 1.
  7. ^ "New Minister to Israel". The Canberra Times. ACT. 21 February 1955. p. 2.
  8. ^ "Envoy to Sweden named". The Canberra Times. ACT. 28 September 1965. p. 10.
  9. ^ "New envoy to Sweden". The Canberra Times. ACT. 26 September 1967. p. 3.
  10. ^ "Bertram Charles BALLARD". It's An Honour. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Deaths". The Canberra Times. ACT. 18 July 1981. p. 21.
Diplomatic posts New titlePosition established Australian Official Representative in Noumea 1940–1943 Succeeded byNoël Deschamps New titlePosition established Permanent Representative of Australiato the United Nations Office in Geneva 1949–1951 Succeeded byPatrick Shaw Preceded byAllan Loomesas Chargé d'affaires Australian Minister to Thailand 1952–1955 Succeeded byDavid Hay Preceded byOsmond Charles Fuhrman Australian Minister to Israel 1955–1960 Succeeded byJohn McMillan Preceded byStewart Wolfe Jamieson High Commissioner of Australia to Ghana 1960–1962 Succeeded byBarrie Dexteras Acting High Commissioner Preceded byCharles Kevin Australian High Commissioner to Ceylon 1962–1965 Succeeded byGordon Upton Preceded byJohn Rowland Australian Ambassador to Sweden 1965–1967 Succeeded byRoy Peachey
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