James Ormonde

Who was James Ormonde?

James Patrick Ormonde was a Scottish-born Australian politician. Born in Fife, he migrated to Australia as a child and was educated at Catholic schools in Maitland, New South Wales. He became a journalist first with the Labor Daily and then with the Sydney Morning Herald. In 1958, he was appointed to the Australian Senate as a Labor Senator for New South Wales, filling the casual vacancy resulting from the death of Labor Senator Bill Ashley. He was re-elected in the 1958 election, but the remainder of Ashley's term was filled by Colin McKellar; thus, Ormonde was not a Senator between 22 November 1958 and 1 July 1959. He remained in the Senate until his retirement in 1970; however, he died before his retirement took effect in 1971 and Jim McClelland, who had been elected to replace him, filled the vacancy.