Ian McLaren

Ian Francis McLaren OBE (30 March 1912 – 17 April 2000) was an Australian politician, accountant, businessman, historian, bibliographer and book-collector.

Early life[]

He was born at Launceston in Tasmania to draper Alexander Morrison McLaren and Elsie Elizabeth Gibbins. He attended Caulfield Grammar School and the University of Melbourne, becoming an accountant. In 1938 he embarked on a world tour, returning in 1939. He served in the Royal Australian Navy, from 1942 to 1945, and attained the rank of Lieutenant. After the war he returned to Melbourne where he become a partner in the accountancy firm Harris & McLaren.

On 16 April 1941 he married Eileen Porter, with whom he had four children.

Political career[]

From 1945 to 1947 he was the independent member for Glen Iris in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. Following his defeat he joined the Liberal Party, and served on Malvern City Council from 1951 to 1953.

In 1965, he returned to the Legislative Assembly as the Liberal member for Caulfield, changing seats to Bennettswood in 1967. From 1973 he was Deputy Speaker. McLaren retired from politics in 1979.

Historian, bibliographer and book collector[]

He was a long-standing member of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria (RHSV).^[1] He served as its President (1956-1960) and contributed to its journal, Victorian Historical Magazine and to other history and cultural periodicals. He also wrote several entries for various volumes of the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

He was a prolific bibliographer and produced numerous published bibliographies. His first was Local Histories of Australia (1954). Others dealt with the La Trobe Valley, Burke and Wills, Australian aviation, Australian exploration, the Parliament of Victoria, Marcus Clarke and C.J. Dennis. He was appointed the honorary bibliographer at Melbourne University (Baillieu) Library in 1976. He was a contributor to the Bibliography of Australia (1941-1969).

McLaren was a noted book-collector specialising in Australiana and was a member of the Book Collectors Society of Australia. His collection of books on local history was extensive and he presented it to the University of Melbourne where it is housed in the Special Collections (rare books) Department of the Baillieu Library.

Other activities[]

As a businessman, McLaren was Deputy Chairman of Kiwi International and a director of the Gas and Fuel Corporation of Victoria (1963-1965).

From 1946 to 1957 he was the Chairman of the Wyperfeld National Park, President of the Youth Hostels Association of Victoria (1947–48), a delegate to the Australian Constitutional Conventions (1973–78), a member of the Estate Agents Committee (1956–65) a member of the Melbourne University Council (1977–79) and a member of the History Advisory Council of Victoria (1977–79).

He was President of the Australian YMCA (1957-1963) and Vice-President of the World YMCA (1961-1969).

Honours[]

He was awarded the OBE in 1959

In 1964, was made a Fellow of the RHSV.

He was presented with an honorary Doctorate of Literature by the University of Melbourne in 1996.

Ian McLaren died on 17 April 2000.^[2] An obituary noted,

He spoke with vigour, clarity and concisenesses. And with all these qualities and qualifications Mr McLaren mixed integrity, friendliness and courtesy in his relations with others.^[3]

References[]