{{Short description|Australian public servant and diplomat}} {{For|the English botanist|George Beauchamp Knowles}} {{Use Australian English|date=January 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Sir George Knowles | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|CBE}} | image = | image_size = | caption = | office1 = Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department | term_start1 = 10 February 1932 | term_end1 = 8 May 1946 | predecessor1 = Sir Robert Garran | successor1 = Kenneth Bailey |office2 = High Commissioner of Australia to South Africa |term_start2 = 3 September 1946 |term_end2 = 22 November 1947 | predecessor2 = ''New office'' | successor2 = Alfred Stirling | birth_name = George Shaw Knowles | birth_date = {{Birth date|1882|03|14|df=y}} | birth_place = Toowong, Queensland, Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|1947|11|22|1882|03|14|df=y}} | death_place = Pretoria, South Africa | resting_place = Woden Cemetery | occupation = Public servant and diplomat | spouse = {{marriage|Eleanor Bennett|1908}} | alma_mater = | children = }}
'''Sir George Shaw Knowles''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|CBE}} (14 March 1882{{spaced endash}}22 November 1947) was an Australian public servant and diplomat. He served as departmental secretary of the Attorney-General's Department from 1932 to 1946, and was then the inaugural Australian High Commissioner to South Africa from 1946 until his death the following year.
==Early life== Knowles was born in Toowong, Brisbane, Queensland, on 14 March 1882. He was the son of Mary ({{nee|Cocks}}) and George Hopley Knowles; his father was born in Staffordshire, England, while his mother was a native Queenslander.<ref name=Whitlam>{{citation|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/knowles-sir-george-shaw-6987|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309022017/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/knowles-sir-george-shaw-6987|archive-date=9 March 2014|title=Knowles, Sir George Shaw (1882–1947)|first=E.G.|last=Whitlam|author-link=Gough Whitlam|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=Australian National University|url-status=live}}</ref> He was educated at Warwick West Boys' School and Toowoomba Grammar School.<ref name=DipDeath>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46817657|title=Diplomat's Death in Pretoria: Career of Sir George Knowles|newspaper=The West Australian|page=13|date=24 November 1947}}</ref>
==Public service career== In 1898, Knowles joined the Queensland Public Service as a junior clerk,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96248998|title=Sir George Knowles dead: High Commissioner to South Africa|date=24 November 1947|page=1|newspaper=Recorder|location=Port Pirie, South Australia}}</ref> initially working in the Stock Department and later in the Attorney-General's Department. He attended night classes in accountancy at Brisbane Central Technical College.<ref name=Whitlam/>
Knowles joined the Commonwealth Public Service in 1902 as a clerk in the Australian National Audit Office. This required him to move to Melbourne, the temporary capital. He transferred to the Australian Patent Office in 1904, and then to the Attorney-General's Department. Knowles attended evening classes at the University of Melbourne, graduating with Bachelor of Laws (1907), Master of Laws (1908), Bachelor of Arts (1910), and Master of Arts (1912) degrees. In 1916, Knowles was admitted as barrister and solicitor of the High Court.<ref name=DipDeath/>
In 1930, Knowles was appointed to the first Council of the Canberra University College, holding the position continuously until his resignation in 1946,<ref name=MemorialPrize>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2777819|title=George Knowles Memorial Prize|date=2 May 1950|page=4|newspaper=The Canberra Times}}</ref> when he left to take on an appointment as Australia's first Australian High Commissioner to South Africa.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93222498|title=Sir George Knowles Dies|date=27 November 1947|newspaper=Chronicle|location=Adelaide|page=9}}</ref> He and Lady Knowles journeyed to the post on the steamer Nestor, departing 5 July 1946.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17984766|title=Sir George Knowles departs to-day|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=5 July 1946|page=4}}</ref>
Between 1932 and 1946, Knowles held the positions of Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth, Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department and Parliamentary Draftsman.<ref name=DipDeath/>
==High Commissioner to South Africa== Knowles was due to retire from the public service in March 1947 (his 65th birthday), but in April 1946 the federal government chose him as the inaugural Australian High Commissioner to South Africa.<ref>{{cite thesis|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/43175514.pdf|page=127|title=South African–Australian diplomatic relations 1945–1961|author=Francis Tothill|year=1995|type=PhD thesis|publisher=University of South Africa}}</ref> It was generally understood that Attorney-General H. V. Evatt pushed for the appointment so that he could install his own man, Kenneth Bailey, as departmental secretary.<ref>Tothill (1995), p. 181.</ref> Knowles arrived in Durban in late July and was formally received by Governor-General Gideon Brand van Zyl on 3 September. He was given credentials to present, but did not do so after being informed that it was the South African government's policy that they should not be presented by diplomatic representatives of dominions.<ref>Tothill (1995), p. 138.</ref> Knowles was given no brief by the Australian government, and when he requested written instructions was told that the government had no policy towards South Africa.<ref>Tothill (1995), p. 147.</ref> He proposed to send dispatches back to Australia every two weeks, but in his 16 months in the position eventually sent 160 dispatches, most of which he wrote personally.<ref>Tothill (1995), p. 148.</ref>
Knowles died in Pretoria on 22 November 1947, while still in office as Australian High Commissioner to South Africa. The South African Government arranged a State funeral to celebrate his life and work.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46818146|title=Late Sir George Knowles: State Funeral In South Africa|newspaper=The West Australian|page=15|date=25 November 1947}}</ref> After the funeral, his body was returned to Australia,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article95618863|title=Late Sir George Knowles: South African Tribute|date=1 December 1947|newspaper=Kalgoorlie Miner|page=1}}</ref> and his remains were interred at Woden Cemetery.<ref name=LegalOpinion>{{citation|url=http://legalopinions.ags.gov.au/opinionauthor/knowles-george-shaw|publisher=Australian Government|title=KNOWLES George Shaw|work=Legal Opinions Author Biographies}}</ref>
==Awards and honours== In October 1920, Knowles was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.<ref>{{citation|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1107048|title=Search Australian Honours: KNOWLES, George Shaw|archive-date=11 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111023841/http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1107048&search_type=quick&showInd=true|publisher=Australian Government|work=itsanhonour.gov.au}}</ref> He was promoted to Commander of the Order in June 1928, whilst a draftsman in the Attorney-General's Department.<ref>{{citation|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1065528|title=Search Australian Honours: KNOWLES, George Shaw|archive-date=11 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111024001/http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1065528&search_type=quick&showInd=true|publisher=Australian Government|work=itsanhonour.gov.au}}</ref> In January 1939, whilst serving as Solicitor-General, Knowles was knighted.<ref>{{citation|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1083404|title=Search Australian Honours: KNOWLES, George Shaw|archive-date=11 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111024130/http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1083404&search_type=quick&showInd=true|publisher=Australian Government|work=itsanhonour.gov.au}}</ref>
In 1950, Lady Knowles donated money to the Council of the Canberra University College to provide an academic prize memorialising her late husband.<ref name=MemorialPrize/> In 1964, Knowles Place in City, Australian Capital Territory, site of the Canberra Law Courts, was named in honour of George Knowles.<ref name=LegalOpinion/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-gov}} {{s-bef|before=Robert Garran}} {{s-ttl|title=Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department|years=1932 – 1946}} {{s-aft|after=Kenneth Bailey}} {{s-dip}} {{s-new|reason=Position established}} {{s-ttl|title=Australian High Commissioner to South Africa|years=1946 – 1947}} {{s-aft|after=Alfred Stirling}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knowles, George}} Category:1882 births Category:1947 deaths Category:Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Australian Knights Bachelor Category:High commissioners of Australia to South Africa Category:University of Melbourne alumni Category:Solicitors-general of Australia Category:People educated at Toowoomba Grammar School