Keith Seaman

Who was Keith Seaman?

Reverend Sir Keith Douglas Seaman, KCVO, OBE was Governor of South Australia from 1 September 1977 until 28 March 1982. He was the second successive governor to have been a minister of religion, Seaman being a minister in then recently merged Uniting Church in Australia. He was born in McLaren Vale in 1920.

Seaman's term as governor was not without controversy. On 24 February 1978, The Advertiser reported that he was about to be dismissed. He wasn't, but was forced to admit that he had committed a 'grave impropriety' prior to his appointment; it had been examined by the Uniting Church discipline committee, and he had been allowed to continue his ministry.

Before being appointed governor, Reverend Keith Seaman had been superintendent of the "Adelaide Central Methodist Mission", and in 1973 was a member of the National Commission on Social Welfare, set up by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

He died at his home in 2013 aged 93.