| Sir Clifden Henry Andrews Eager1882-1969
President: 1943-1958 Legislative Council: 1930-1958
Eager entered the Legislative Council in 1930 at a by-election for East Yarra Province, which he won for the Nationalists. He held ministerial rank only once, as an honorary minister for two months in 1935, but he was unofficial leader of the Legislative Council between 1937 and 1943. He was elected President in 1943 and knighted in 1945. His tenure was uneventful until 1952 when he lost the endorsement of his party (by then the Liberal Country Party) because of his refusal to vote against the Greater Melbourne Council Bill. Eager stood for East Yarra Province as an Independent Liberal and, with support from the Australian Labor Party, won the seat. He also retained his position as President, again with Labor Party support. Eager lost his seat at the 1958 election, but continued to be active in business as the director of several companies. He died at Corowa, NSW, and was survived by his four children. |
Clifden
Eager was born at Sorrento. After qualifying in law at the University of Melbourne, he was
called to the Bar in 1911. He had been admitted to the Commonwealth Institute of
Accountants in 1905, and as a barrister he specialised in commercial, income tax,
copyright and local government law. In 1919 he married Ernestine Isabella Mary Campton.