Muirhead Collins

Captain Sir Robert Henry Muirhead Collins, (1852–1927) was an English-born Royal Navy officer, Colonial (Permanent Victorian Naval Forces) naval officer, Colonial public servant, Australian Federationist, Australian public service department head and Australia's official representative in London.

Life summary

1852 Born 20 September 1852, Chew Magna, Somerset, England 1866 1877 Joins Royal Navy 1876 Appointed Lieutenant 1877 Appointed Lieutenant Commander; retired from Royal Navy 1877 Appointed lieutenant in the Permanent Victorian Naval Forces (PVNF), Victoria (Australia) 1884 Appointed Commander, PVNF 1886 Retired from Victorian navy with rank of Captain 1886 Married Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. Samuel Brush, pastoralist, of Boondara, New South Wales 1886 1901 Secretary for Defence in Victoria 1901 1906 Inaugural Secretary of the Australian Department of Defence 1904 Appointed CMG 1906 1910 Official Secretary to the Commonwealth of Australia in London 1913 Delegate for the Commonwealth Government at theInternational Conference on Lifesaving at Sea in London 1917 Retired 1919 Knighted 1927 Died 19 April 1927, Bath, Somerset, England

Collins was born to Dr Charles Howell Collins, a surgeon, and his Henrietta Jane Heaven (née Groset). Collins died in 1927 and was survived by his wife and their son, Major Howel Collins (graduated from Royal Military Academy in Woolwich) of the Australian Army.