George Hodges Knox

Who was George Hodges Knox?

Sir George Hodges Knox CMG was an Australian politician. The City of Knox is named after him.

Knox was born in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran in 1885 and educated at Scotch College Melbourne. He was the son of William Knox, who had been a member of the Victorian Legislative Council between 1897 and 1901, and the member for Kooyong in the House of Representatives.

Knox began his working life as an electrical engineer. He married Kathleen Purves MacPherson in 1909. Soon after, he moved to Beaconsfield to establish an orchard. He joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1909 and served during World War I. He left the army in 1918 and divorced in 1919. In 1920 he moved to Ferntree Gully. He married Ada Victoria Harris in 1921. He was elected to the Fern Tree Gully Shire Council in 1923.

He won the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat for Upper Yarra in 1927 for the Nationalist Party. He became Speaker for the Victorian Parliament in 1942 and remained there until 1947. Between 1945 and 1960 he held the seat of Scoresby.