Ray Dunn - The Son of A Cop

The Son of A Cop

Born at Geelong, Victoria, he was the second son of Victorian-born parents, police constable Thomas Dunn (1884–1953) and his wife Mary Ellen (née Hudson). Tom Dunn had a distinguished police career after joining the force in 1906. Intelligent and efficient, he was transferred to Russell Street headquarters in 1924, and for the decade from 1927, he successively worked as a special adviser and assistant to (Sir) Thomas Blamey and to Alexander Duncan. Awarded the Royal Victorian medal in 1934, Tom Dunn retired as the state's second-ranking policeman in June 1944 after 34 years' service.

His son Ray was sent to schools in Geelong and Essendon, and attended the University of Melbourne on a scholarship. He received an LL.B. in 1930, an LL.M. two years later and in his final year was awarded the Supreme Court judges' prize. Dunn married Marie Ellen Whelan at St Teresa's Catholic Church, Essendon, in June 1934. Together, the couple had two daughters. They later divorced and Dunn remarried in Sydney during 1951. With his second wife, Kathleen Monica Patricia (née Foster-Wightman), Dunn had a son, but this marriage also ended in divorce.