John Cramer

Who was John Cramer?

Sir John Oscar Cramer was an Australian politician, representing the Liberal Party of Australia, of which he was a founding member. He was a Roman Catholic, a rare thing in the Liberal Party in its founding days and this was an issue.

John Cramer was elected as Mayor of North Sydney in 1939. Later he was Chairman of the Sydney County Council. He was elected to the House of Representatives as the inaugural representative of the seat of Bennelong on its creation in 1949. In 1956, the Prime Minister Robert Menzies appointed him Minister for the Army, a portfolio he held until 1963.

In 1964 he was created a Knight Bachelor. He retired from parliament before the 1974 election, and was succeeded by John Howard. He died on 18 May 1994, aged 98.