View source for Collier Cudmore

{{Short description|Australian politician and rower}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{MedalTableTop|CollierCudmore.JPG|230px|Cudmore circa 1915 (age 30)}}
{{MedalSport|Men's [[Rowing at the Summer Olympics|rowing]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1908 Summer Olympics|1908 London]] | [[Rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's coxless four|Coxless four]]}}
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'''Sir Collier Robert Cudmore''' (13 June 1885 – 16 May 1971) was an Australian lawyer, politician and Olympic [[Rowing (sport)|rower]] who won the gold medal in the [[1908 Summer Olympics]] for Great Britain.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/37277 |title=Robert Cudmore |work=Olympedia |access-date=6 April 2021}}</ref>

==Early life and rowing career==
Cudmore was born at Avoca, [[Wentworth, New South Wales]], Australia, the son of Daniel Henry Cudmore, a pastoralist, and his second wife Martha Earle, née McCracken. He attended [[St Peter's College, Adelaide|St Peter's College]] and the [[University of Adelaide]].<ref name=ADB>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |id2=cudmore-sir-collier-robert-9873 |first=P. A. |last=Howell |title=Cudmore, Sir Collier Robert (1885–1971) |volume=13 |year=1993 |pages=540-541 |access-date=14 November 2022}}</ref> He went to England to continue his education at [[Magdalen College, Oxford]], where he rowed for his college and for [[Oxford University Boat Club|Oxford]] in the [[Boat Race]] of 1908. He was a member of the Magdalen College [[Coxless four]], which won the [[Stewards' Challenge Cup]] and the [[Visitors' Challenge Cup]] at [[Henley Royal Regatta]] in 1908.<ref>[http://www.rowinghistory.net/HRR%20US/hrr_1839-1939.htm Henley Royal Regatta Results of Final Races 1839-1939] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309113109/http://www.rowinghistory.net/HRR%20US/hrr_1839-1939.htm |date=9 March 2012 }}</ref> The Magdalen crew was chosen to represent Great Britain [[rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics]], and Cudmore was the [[bow (rowing)|bow-man]] in the four with [[John Somers-Smith]], [[Angus Gillan]] and [[Duncan Mackinnon]]. The crew won the gold medal for Great Britain and defeated a Leander crew.<ref>{{cite Sports-Reference |title=Robert Cudmore |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/cu/robert-cudmore-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417184821/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/cu/robert-cudmore-1.html |archive-date=17 April 2020}}</ref> Cudmore rowed again for Oxford in the Boat Race in 1909.

Cudmore studied law at the [[Inner Temple]] and was called to the bar in 1910, then returned to Australia and formed a partnership with [[Stanley Murray]]. He practiced law until 1955.<ref name=ADB/>

An officer in the [[Royal Field Artillery]] Special Reserve, Cudmore commanded a [[Artillery battery|battery]] in France during the [[First World War]]. He was wounded twice and, as a result, was plagued by back problems for the rest of his life.

==Political career==

Returning from Europe in 1919, Cudmore became interested in Australian politics. He was involved in the administration of the State Repatriation Board, the Soldiers' Fund, and the South Australian Sailors and Soldiers' Distress Fund. As vice-president of the South Australian Liberal Federation, he was a force behind its 1932 merger with the Country Party to form the [[Liberal and Country League]].<ref name=ADB/>

In 1933 Cudmore was elected to the [[South Australian Legislative Council|Legislative Council]] to represent Adelaide Central District No.2.<ref name="SA parl">{{Cite SA-parl |pid= |name=Hon Sir Collier Robert Cudmore |former=yes |access-date=14 November 2022}}</ref> From 1934 to 1936 he was president of the Liberal and Country League. From 1939 to 1959, when he retired, he was the leader of his party in the Upper House. Cudmore was an outspoken opponent of [[Thomas Playford IV]]'s nationalization of the Adelaide Electric Company, which was owned by Murray and constituted a major draw on a treasury already at its limits. The bill was defeated at first. However, when the bill was reintroduced in 1946, he absented himself from a key [[Division of the assembly|division]], allowing the bill to pass.<ref>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |id2=norrie-sir-charles-willoughby-moke-11254 |title=Norrie, Sir Charles Willoughby Moke (1893–1977) |access-date=14 November 2022}}</ref>

A [[liberal conservative]], Cudmore pursued a reform agenda that often conflicted with the more traditionalist members of his party, most particularly Playford. He advocated harsher sentences for child abusers, a parliamentary public accounts committee, relaxed gaming regulation, extended liquor trading hours, and the establishment of a well-regulated [[red-light district]], often working with the Labor government to achieve his aims from opposition. Cudmore also achieved animal protection laws, pensions for supreme court judges, and mandatory [[tuberculosis]] examinations.<ref name=ADB/>

He was knighted in 1958.<ref>{{Cite It's an Honour |ausawardid=1083257 |date=12 June 1958 |recipient=Mr Collier Robert Cudmore |award=Knight Bachelor |access-date=14 November 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of Oxford University Boat Race crews]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{databaseOlympics|CUDMOCOL01|Collier Cudmore|archive=20160421155242}}
{{Commons category}}
*{{sports links}}

{{Olympic champions – Men's coxless four}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cudmore, Collier}}
[[Category:1885 births]]
[[Category:1971 deaths]]
[[Category:British male rowers]]
[[Category:Olympic rowers for Great Britain]]
[[Category:Rowers at the 1908 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain]]
[[Category:Royal Field Artillery officers]]
[[Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian lawyers]]
[[Category:Australian Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Liberal and Country League politicians]]
[[Category:Members of the South Australian Legislative Council]]
[[Category:People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in rowing]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian politicians]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]