Bertram Ballard

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

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)
OccupationPublic servant, diplomat

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.

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. 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 title
Position established
 Australian Official Representative in Noumea
1940–1943		 Succeeded by
Noël Deschamps
New title
Position established
 Permanent Representative of Australia
to the United Nations Office in Geneva
1949–1951		 Succeeded by
Patrick Shaw
Preceded by
Allan Loomes
as Chargé d'affaires		 Australian Minister to Thailand
1952–1955		 Succeeded by
David Hay
Preceded by
Osmond Charles Fuhrman		 Australian Minister to Israel
1955–1960		 Succeeded by
John McMillan
Preceded by
Stewart Wolfe Jamieson		 High Commissioner of Australia to Ghana
1960–1962		 Succeeded by
Barrie Dexter
as Acting High Commissioner
Preceded by
Charles Kevin		 Australian High Commissioner to Ceylon
1962–1965		 Succeeded by
Gordon Upton
Preceded by
John Rowland		 Australian Ambassador to Sweden
1965–1967		 Succeeded by
Roy Peachey
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