(Jack) Kingsbury ‘King’ Bailllieu

A member of the prominent Melbourne establishment family, Kingsbury was born on 29 September 1900 the son of Arthur Sydney (1872-1943), estate agent and his wife Ethel Mary née Ham (1875-1932) who married in 1899; among the many legends of the Baillieus, it was a tradition to “regard loyalty to the family as the highest duty of all”.  Educated at Melbourne Church of England (Boys’) Grammar (1913-18), Baillieu worked for a period with the “English, Scottish and Australasian Bank” before becoming a director of “Baillieu Allard (q.v.) Pty Ltd”, originally known as “W. L. Baillieu & Co”, founded in 1892 by his legendary uncle William Lawrence (1859-1936); in 1904 the firm was given to Kingsbury's father to manage so W. L. could go onto achieve greater things.  Residing at Kinniel - Grange Road, Toorak, in February 1924 he married Grace née Lavers (“a well-known musical comedy actress”) and died on 21 April 1926 from pneumonia after an illness lasting four days; of his three siblings, (Lelda) Sunday (1906-81) went on to become well-known as a patron of modern artists such as Albert Tucker (q.v.) through the creation of Heide (1935-81) with husband John Reed.  Obituaries of the day noted Baillieu “was at the threshold of a promising and useful career” and “especially among the younger set in Melbourne, will miss [his] bright personality and kindly nature”; a keen sportsman it was reported that he entertained at his home in 1925 the English cricketer J. B. Hobbs.

Monumental Headstone

Source:

The Argus 22 April 1926.

The Age 22 April 1926.

The Herald 21 April 1926.

“Liber Melburniensis”, Centenary Edition (1965).

ADB Volume 7 1891-1939 (A-Ch).

Corfield, J, Wickham, D & Gervasoni, C., “The Eureka Encyclopaedia” (2004).

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