Robert Waugh Cruickshank (1873 – 6 November 1928) was an Australian politician. Born in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 to tailor Robert John Cruickshank and Isabel Drysdale, he was educated Moray House and Heriot-Watt College before becoming a librarian, later working for a publishing company. He moved to Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

 in the early 1890s, becoming a journalist for first Sir Charles Lilley

Charles Lilley

Sir Charles Lilley was a Premier and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland. He had a significant influence on the form and spirit of state education in colonial Queensland which lasted well into the twentieth century.Lilley was born at Newcastle on Tyne, England, the son of Thomas...

's Chronicle, then Drakes Progress and finally the Sun and the Australian Worker.

He became a Reuters

Reuters

Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...

 representative in Brisbane and Sydney, and from around 1911 was an advertising representative for the Australian Worker and the Labor Daily. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 and contributed actively to the successful campaign against conscription

Conscription

Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

 in 1916. Cruickshank was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council

New South Wales Legislative Council

The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

 in 1921 and served briefly as an honorary minister and Assistant Treasurer from May to October 1927. In 1927 Cruickshank, a strong supporter of Jack Lang

Jack Lang (Australian politician)

John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...

, directed the Labor campaign.

Family

On 11 March 1920 he married Maude Mary Leonard at North Sydney

North Sydney

North Sydney may refer to:*North Sydney Council, a Local government area in Sydney*North Sydney, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia*Division of North Sydney, an electoral division serving the suburb...

, with whom he had three children.