Feature Article
Sir Percy Claude Spender (1897–1985)
Sir Percy Claude Spender (1897-1985), barrister, politician and diplomat, was born on 5 October 1897 at Darlinghurst, Sydney, fifth of six children of South Australian-born Frank Henry Spender, locksmith, and his wife Mary, née Murray, from New South Wales. Percy had an unsettled childhood. His mother died in 1902 and his father remarried, to a widow who had a daughter; another two children were born into the family. Educated at Darlinghurst primary schools and Fort Street Model School (from 1911...