A NOMAD WAS OUR GUIDE
A book by W L Grayden

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

HOME PAGE
MORE information
EXTRACT from the book
PHOTOS from the book
HOW TO ORDER your copy

William Leonard Grayden was born in Perth, Western Australia on August 5th 1920.

He was educated in Victoria and England, and at Perth Technical College.

He served in the AIF during World War II enlisting in 1940 and being commissioned later that year. As a member of 2/16 Australian Infantry Battalion he served in Syria and the Middle-East before taking part in the Kokoda Trail and Ramu-Markham Valley Campaigns in New Guinea. He later served in Borneo and the Celebes and was confirmed in the rank of Captain. He was discharged in 1946.

In 1947 he was elected to the Western Australian Parliament as the Member for Middle Swan, resigning in 1949 to contest the Federal election. He won that contest to become the Federal Member for the Division of Swan in the House of Representatives.

In 1956 Mr. Grayden re-entered the State Parliament as the Member for South Perth, a seat which he held until his retirement from political life in 1992. At various times during that period he was appointed as a Minister holding the portfolios of Labour and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Immigration, Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Education, and Youth, Sport and Recreation.

At the time of the Leichhardt search, Mr. Grayden was 33 years old and a Member of the Federal Parliament.

In 1956 on his election to the State Parliament he pressed for the appointment of a Select Committee to investigate the plight of Aborigines in the Central Desert area. The Select Committee Report was instrumental in bringing about much needed reform in the treatment of the Aboriginal people throughout Australia.

He is the author of Adam and Atoms (1957) which dealt with many of the issues arising from the Select Committee report.

Mr. Grayden received the award of Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1994.

Mr. Grayden married Betsy Marie Chadwick in 1949 and they have ten children (5 sons and 5 daughters). At this time they have 28 grandchildren and 2 great grand children however that extended family continues to expand.

Web page by J S Grayden