William Leonard "Bill" Grayden AM

Order of Australia

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

(born 5 August 1920) was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician. Born in Perth, Western Australia

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, he was educated at state schools and then at Perth Technical College

Old Perth Technical School

The 1910 Perth Technical School is located at 137 St Georges Terrace, Perth, Western Australia, adjacent to the Old Perth Boys School building....

, becoming a mechanical engineer. He served in the military from 1940-1946. In 1947, he was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

Western Australian Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....

 as the Liberal

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

 member for Middle Swan

Electoral district of Middle Swan

Middle Swan was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1930 to 1962.The district was located in the eastern suburbs of Perth...

, where he remained until 1949. In that year, he transferred to the Australian House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

, winning the seat of Swan

Division of Swan

The Division of Swan is an Australian Electoral Division located in Western Australia. The division is named after the Swan River.For several decades, it has been a marginal seat, extending along the Swan and Canning Rivers from the affluent suburbs in the City of South Perth to the west, which...

 for the Liberals. He held the seat until his defeat in 1954. In 1956 he returned to the Legislative Assembly, winning the seat of South Perth

Electoral district of South Perth

South Perth is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district is located in the suburbs immediately south of the Perth CBD....

. He served in as a minister in a number of capacities: Labour and Industry 1974-1978; Consumer Affairs 1974-1978; Immigration and Tourism 1974-1975; and Education, Cultural Affairs and Recreation 1978-1982. Grayden left the Assembly in 1993. He is the maternal grandson of Western Australian businessman and politician Nat Harper

Nat Harper

Nathaniel White Harper was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1910 until 1914, representing the seats of Beverley and Pingelly...

.