Researching John Kerr

Kerr was born in Sydney to working-class parents. He won scholarships to Fort Street Boys' High School and the University of Sydney, where he studied law. His legal career was interrupted by the Second World War, during which he served with the Australian Army's Directorate of Research and Civil Affairs (DORCA) and attained the rank of colonel. After the war's end he became the inaugural head of the Australian School of Pacific Administration. Kerr returned to the bar in 1949 and became one of Sydney's leading industrial lawyers. He joined the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was briefly an endorsed candidate for the 1951 federal election. He let his membership lapse after the party split of 1955.

Kerr served terms as president of the New South Wales Bar Association and the Law Council of Australia. He was appointed to the Commonwealth Industrial Court in 1966, later serving on territory supreme courts and as Chief Justice of New South Wales (1972–1974). On the nomination of ALP prime minister Gough Whitlam, Kerr was appointed governor-general in July 1974. The Whitlam Government did not hold a majority in the Senate, and following a series of controversies in 1975 – most notably the Loans Affair – the Liberal opposition leader Malcolm Fraser decided to block supply in an attempt to force an early election. Kerr regarded the situation as untenable, believing the prime minister was obliged to either resign or call a general election, which Whitlam was unwilling to do.

On 11 November 1975, Kerr used his reserve powers as governor-general to dismiss Whitlam and his ministry, appointing Fraser to lead a caretaker government. He immediately granted Fraser's request for a double dissolution, leading to a federal election which saw Whitlam and the ALP defeated in a landslide. The dismissal of the government sparked demonstrations from Whitlam's supporters, with the anger directed at Kerr a major factor in his early retirement in December 1977 and subsequent withdrawal from public life. The propriety, legality and wisdom of his actions surrounding the dismissal have been subject to considerable debate and analysis.

In 1912, after working as a lumberjack in the Kootenay district of British Columbia, he bought a homestead in Spirit River, Alberta, where he and his brother farmed until war broke out. Immediately they set out for Edmonton, leaving only a single note tacked to the door of their humble shed. It read: "War is Hell, but what is homesteading?"

He was 29 years old, and a private in the 49th (Edmonton) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 16 September 1916 at Courcelette, France, during a bombing attack, Private Kerr was acting as bayonet man and noting that bombs were running short, he ran along the parados under heavy fire until he was in close contact with the enemy when he opened fire at point-blank range, inflicting heavy losses. The enemy, thinking that they were surrounded, surrendered: 62 prisoners were taken and 250 yards of enemy trench captured. Earlier, Private Kerr's fingers had been blown off, but he did not have his wound dressed until he and two other men had escorted the prisoners back under fire and reported for duty.

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Mount Kerr in the Victoria Cross Ranges in Jasper National Park, Alberta, was named in his honour in 1951, and in 2006 Chip Kerr Park in Port Moody, British Columbia, was dedicated.

After the war he returned to farm in Alberta and also worked in the oil patch and as a forest ranger in Alberta.

He was a great uncle of Greg Kerr, member of Parliament for West Nova 2008–15.

John Kerr (Born 19 February 1942) is an Australian radio announcer.

John Kerr hosts the top-rated weekend edition of the New Day Australia from Midnight to 6 am on 2UE and the Fairfax Radio Network as well as many Regional Affiliate Stations.

Between 1994 and 2005 John hosted the weekday version of New Day Australia. In 2006, his on-air shift was changed to the weekend edition of the show. Radio announcer Stuart Bocking replaced John in the weekday shifts of New Day Australia.

On 1 December 2012, during his 2UE show, John Kerr announced his retirement from radio after 55 years on the air, 18 of which have been on the overnight shift at 2UE, first on weekdays and now on weekends. John made a private announcement to a select number of his biggest fans at a listener lunch in Sydney yesterday afternoon. John remained on air until the Australia Day weekend. His final show was broadcast on the morning of Sunday 27 January 2013.

John Kerr's syrupy voice and warmth of feeling were characteristic of New Day Australia. One of the more memorable if controversial features of his time running this segment was the recurrence with which he was made to field phone calls about Australian singer-songwriter, John Farnham, between 2005 and 2010. A portion of these conversations have been posted to YouTube.

He was the father of John Kerr, Jr., cousin of Bartlett Yancey, and grand-uncle of John H. Kerr. A native of the Yanceyville, North Carolina area, Kerr was licensed as a Baptist minister in 1802 and moved to Halifax County, Virginia in 1805; he later lived in Pittsylvania County, Virginia as well.

In the 1970s, he largely moved away from acting to become a lawyer, making a few small cameos in Canadian-produced films like Plague and The Amateur. He operated a legal practice in Beverly Hills until 2000, when he retired from the profession.

A right-handed batsman, Kerr represented Scotland for 26 years and is their longest serving player of all time. His unbeaten 178 against Ireland in Dublin remained a national record for 3 decades until it was passed by James Aitchison. Aitchison was also the man to pass his record tally of 1975 runs for Scotland. Kerr played club cricket for Greenock and scored 21558 runs for them and made 49 hundreds.

He was also the cousin of the Scottish double international, James Reid-Kerr.

Kerr, who lived in East Lothian, was the principal owner of Dick, Kerr, and Company Ltd, which carried out large contracts for the construction of tram and cable lines in London, Edinburgh and other cities.

He unsuccessfully contested the 1900 general election in his home area of Haddingtonshire. In April 1903 Robert William Hanbury, the Conservative MP for Preston, died aged 58. In the preceding years, Kerr's company had opened extensive tram and electrical equipment factories in Preston, employing nearly 2,000 people, and he was selected as the Conservative candidate for the resulting by-election in May 1903. The Times newspaper reported that he described himself as a firm supporter of the government and as "a thorough Imperialist, believing the maintenance of the Empire as a whole to be essential to the prosperity, if not continued existence, of Britain as an independent Power". The Liberal Party backed the Labour candidate, trade unionist John Hodge, who had the support of the local temperance movement and reported the defection of many local working-class Conservatives to the Labour cause. However, Kerr won the seat with a majority of 14% of the votes over Hodge, his sole opponent. Kerr held the Preston seat until his defeat at the 1906 general election, after which he did not stand for Parliament again.

His daughter, Margot, married the British Army officer and first-class cricketer Henry Baird in 1905.

Kerr was born in Dunkinsville, Ohio and graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He arrived in Canton in May 1854 with his wife to run the Huiji Dispensary of the Presbyterian Mission and the Canton Hospital (1855); Kerr served as superintendent of the hospital for 45 years. In 1859, Kerr opened Boji (boji meaning spreading benevolence) Hospital, located in Zhengsha Street in a southern suburb of Canton. In 1860, Kerr opened of the second dispensary in Foshan, later becoming the largest hospital in the city. In 1899, Kerr opened the first mental hospital in China.

During his time in Canton, Kerr treated 39,440 inpatients and 740,324 outpatients from 4,000 villages.