Members of the RSL form a guard of honour for Mr Cochrane, in Rossiter Road, after the service at the Presbyterian Church.
Image: Koo Wee Rup Sun, May 3, 1972
Leslie was born in Bentleigh in 1894 to David and Lucy (nee Burgess) Cochrane. The family moved to Caldermeade when he was eight. (2)
Les, a farmer, enlisted in the Australian Army, on May 2, 1916 at the age of 21. He was part of the 46th Battalion, 4th Reinforcement. He served in France and was twice wounded in action and Returned to Australia February 15, 1918. (3) On Friday, April 26 1918 a Welcome Home was held for Les, Bill Gilchrist and Billy McGree at the Koo Wee Rup Hall. You can read about and see a photograph of the even here.
Les in his Army uniform
Image: Koo Wee Rup Sun, May 3, 1972
In December 1918, Les married Ivy, the daughter of Harry and Sarah Wildes of Yannathan. They had two children, Irene born in September 1919 and Stewart born May 1922. (4) Leslie and Ivy moved to a soldier settlement block on the Pakenham Road. After the war, as well as running the farm, Mr Cochrane began a life of community service. He joined the Cranbourne Shire Council in 1930, representing the Koo Wee Rup Riding until 1964 and was Shire President on four occasions. It was said he never missed a meeting. (5)
Leslie Cochrane
Image: Parliament of Victoria
Mr Cochrane also represented Gippsland West in the Legislative Assembly from May 1950 until May 1970 for the Country Party. He held various Parliamentary positions and was the Country Party ‘whip’ from 1961 until 1970. (6) When he died, the Premier, Sir Henry Bolte; the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Clive Holding and the leader of the Country Party, Mr Ross-Edwards, each presented a short eulogy on Mr Cochrane in the Victorian Parliament. In fact, Sir Henry pointed out that Mr Cochrane was the last surviving member of this Parliament who served as a member of the Australian Infantry Forces during the First World War. (7) Mr Cochrane was also the President of the Westernport Memorial Hospital Board and he was awarded a Life Membership for his work with the R.S.L. He was a Past Master of the Koo Wee Rup Masonic Lodge and an Elder of the Presbyterian Church and was awarded an O.B.E in 1971. (8)
Mrs Cochrane was also involved in community organizations such as the Presbyterian Ladies Guild and attended the first Koo Wee Rup Red Cross meeting. She was Foundation President of the Hospital Ladies Auxiliary and was awarded a Life Governorship of the Hospital in 1974. Mrs Cochrane died on September 4, 1986, aged 91. (9)
Leslie Cochrane is remembered in Koo Wee Rup by Cochrane Park, where the Community Centre is. The park was developed by the Apex Club in 1980 on Railway land. It was later taken over by the Lions Club who named it for Leslie Cochrane. (10)
On his retirement from Parliament in 1970, Les was presented with his party whip.
Image: Koo Wee Rup Sun, May 3, 1972
Leslie Cochrane is remembered in Koo Wee Rup by Cochrane Park, where the Community Centre is. The park was developed by the Apex Club in 1980 on Railway land. It was later taken over by the Lions Club who named it for Leslie Cochrane. (10)
Footnotes
(1) Koo Wee Rup Sun, May 3, 1972, p.1 and p. 8-9. The paper has a full report of the funeral and the tributes from his Parliamentary colleagues and community members.
(2) Parliament of Victoria Re-Member; it is no longer on-line but you can access it here - https://web.archive.org/web/20120403011116/http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/re-member/bioregfull.cfm?mid=968 See screen shot below.
(3) National Archives of Australia www.naa.gov.au First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920 - see Leslie Cochrane's here - https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3264223
(4) Irene (Mrs Jack Haw who died in 2001) - birth notice - The Argus, September 18, 1919, see here; Stewart (who died in 2000) - WW2 Nominal rolls - https://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=889772&c=WW2#R
(5) Parliament of Victoria Re-Member, see footnote 2; Koo Wee Rup Sun, May 3, 1972, p.1 and p. 8-9.
(7) Koo Wee Rup Sun, May 3, 1972, p.1 and p. 8-9.
(8) Parliament of Victoria Re-Member, see footnote 2
(9) Hooper, Fred The Good Country: Into the Dawn of a New Day (1968-1988) Shire of Cranbourne (Shire of Cranbourne, 1988), p. 43.
(10) Hooper, op. cit., p. 72.
See footnote 2.
A version of this post, Les Cochrane - from AIF to MLA, also appears on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Commerates: Our War Years.
