Sir Ernest Cooper Riddle (5 April 187328 February 1939) 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 banker and Governor of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is a multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Fiji, Asia, USA and the United Kingdom. Commonwealth Bank provides a variety of financial services including retail, business and institutional banking, funds management, superannuation, insurance,...

, then Australia's central bank

Central bank

A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is a public institution that usually issues the currency, regulates the money supply, and controls the interest rates in a country. Central banks often also oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries...

, from 1927 to 1938.

Early life

Riddle was born in Narrabri, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, the son of pastoralist John Riddle. In 1889, aged 16, he joined the Narrabri branch of the Bank of Australasia as a clerk. In 1915, Riddle joined the Commonwealth Bank and was appointed the manager of the Perth

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....

 branch, where he remained until he transferred to Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 as the acting manager. In 1924, he was promoted to inspector and was transferred to manage the Melbourne branch of the bank.

Governor of the Commonwealth Bank

In 1925, Riddle was appointed deputy governor of the Commonwealth Bank and in 1927 became the bank's governor, a position he held until his retirement in 1938. Highly popular, Riddle served as Australia's most senior banker through the entire Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

. He attended the British Empire Economic Conference

British Empire Economic Conference

The British Empire Economic Conference was a 1932 conference of British colonies and the autonomous dominions held to discuss the Great Depression. It was held between 21 July and 20 August in Ottawa.The conference saw the group admit the failure of the gold standard and abandon attempts to...

 in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

 in 1932 as an adviser on financial matters to the Australian delegation. He also travelled twice to London where he played a vital part in exchange-rate deliberations. Riddle argued against exchange-rate appreciation, opposing the position of the Commonwealth Bank's chairman Sir Robert Gibson

Robert Gibson (businessman)

Sir Robert Gibson, GBE, was a Scottish-born Australian businessman, a president of the Associated Chambers of Manufactures of Australia.-Early life:...

. Supported by the Bank of England

Bank of England

The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...

 and aided by a lack of enthusiasm for Gibson's proposal by some board members, Riddle's advice was accepted. Riddle gave evidence at the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the monetary and banking systems at present in operation in Australia, which ran from 1935 to 1937.

Riddle resigned from the Commonwealth Bank on 28 February 1938 due to ill health.

Personal life

Riddle was a keen sportsman and was considered to be an "expert rifle shot" and a "first class golfer and tennis player". He was a member of the Royal Sydney Golf Club and the Australian Club

Australian Club

The Australian Club is a private club founded in 1838 and located in Sydney at 165 Macquarie Street. Its membership is men-only and it's the oldest gentlemen's club in the southern hemisphere...

. For many years he was a major in the Army Reserve and during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 commanded a training camp in Perth. He married Annie Bibby of Manchester, England in 1899 and had two children.

Riddle was knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

ed in 1935.