Early and Personal Life
Wilmot Hudson Fysh was born in the city of Launceston in Tasmania, Australia, on 7 January 1895. His father, Frederick Wilmot Fysh, was a merchant, while his mother, Mary (née Reed), was the daughter of a famous landowner, Henry Reed. Fysh was the oldest of five siblings; Hudson, Henry, Margaret, Mary and Graham. He was also the great-nephew of Sir Philip Fysh. His childhood was marred by the failure of his parents' marriage and his father's business. Originally staying with his father, he ran away so often that eventually he was able to stay with his mother. Living in St Leonards—a suburb of Launceston—until 1914, he enlisted in the Light Horse upon the start of World War I.
Educated in the Launceston and Geelong grammar schools, Fysh worked as a jackaroo and woolclasser after his education. He was also a cadet in the 70 Infantry Militia as a teenager, before volunteering for the Tasmanian 26th Light Horse upon the outbreak of war. After the foundation of Qantas, Fysh, being a poor student at school, tried to make up for his lack of training by studying economics and taking a course in pelmanism. After his retirement from Qantas, Fysh received a honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering (EngD), in a commemoration ceremony from the University of Tasmania, in 1971.
Described as a man of "great political acumen" and having "a hard head for business", Fysh had a reputation as a stern, uncompromising taskmaster. This contrasted against his "shy, quiet" nature; he described himself as "painfully shy...as a child feeling looked down on, sensitive, and socially lost." Fysh felt these feelings never left him, being "ill at ease with fame or publicity." Described as single-minded in many instances, his insistence on using a D.H.86 (De Havilland Express 86) lead to a bitter clash and eventual fall-out between Fysh and Sir Gordan Taylor. Fysh also made rivals in other airline entrepreneurs such as Norman Brearley, a founder of Western Australian Airways.
On 5 December 1923, Fysh married Elizabeth Eleanor ("Nell") Dove, from Hunter River, in St James Church of England, Sydney. They had a son and daughter, John Hudson Fysh and Wendy Elizabeth Fysh, both born in Longreach. Fysh described his family as "his bulwark against the relentless pressures"
Read more about this topic: Hudson Fysh
Famous quotes containing the words early, personal and/or life:
“In the true sense one’s native land, with its background of tradition, early impressions, reminiscences and other things dear to one, is not enough to make sensitive human beings feel at home.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“Art is a concrete and personal and rather childish thing after all—no matter what people do to graft it into science and make it sociological and psychological; it is no good at all unless it is let alone to be itself—a game of make-believe, or re-production, very exciting and delightful to people who have an ear for it or an eye for it.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“I think it’s the real world. The people we’re writing about in professional sports, they’re suffering and living and dying and loving and trying to make their way through life just as the brick layers and politicians are.”
—Walter Wellesley (Red)