Eric Campbell (political activist)


Eric Campbell, was an Australian army officer and solicitor who was the leader of the right-wing radical organisation, the New Guard.

Early life

Campbell was born in Young, New South Wales, to Allan Campbell, a solicitor, and his wife Florence Mary Russell. After a private education and a period as article clerk at his father's firm, he joined the Australian Imperial Force as a lieutenant in April 1916. He served in France and on the Somme and was gassed in November 1917.
He returned from World War I on board the SS Anchises in April 1919.
Major Campbell was admitted as a solicitor to practise in NSW in 1919. He married Nancy Browne, of one of the state's most notable grazing families, on 22 October 1924 at Memagong Station, Young. After only a few years' legal practice, he had amassed a fortune of £30,000 and built an impressive circle of influential friends.

Electoral politics

Campbell established the Centre Party in December 1933, in the name of the New Guard, and unsuccessfully contested Lane Cove at the 1935 New South Wales state election, polling 16.7 percent of the vote.