Anthony was born on 12 March 1897 in Warren, New South Wales. He was the son of Honoria Elizabeth (née McNab) and George Edward Anthony. His mother was born in Ireland and his father, who was working as a labourer at the time of his birth, was born in Australia.[1]
Anthony attended the Warren Public School. He left school at the age of fourteen and joined the Postmaster-General's Department as a messenger boy. He later worked as a postal assistant in Peak Hill, New South Wales. In October 1914, Anthony enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).[1] He was assigned to the No. 2 Signal Troop of the Royal Australian Engineers and embarked for Egypt in December 1914.[2] Anthony served on the Gallipoli campaign as a sapper and was present at the landing at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915. A Bible he lost at Gallipoli was recovered by his commanding officer and returned to him in 1934.[3] He was evacuated to England due to illness in August 1915, subsequently returning to Australia where he was discharged from the AIF in October 1916.[1]
Banana-growing
After leaving the military, Anthony moved to Sydney where he worked as a clerk and studied accounting and economics. In 1919 he took up a property near Tweed Heads, New South Wales, under a soldier settlement scheme and established a banana plantation. He served on the Tweed Shire Council from 1919 to 1922. His plantation's first crop failed due to banana bunchy top virus and they had to leave the property. A subsequent sugar-growing venture was also unsuccessful.[1]
Anthony briefly worked as a land agent on what would become Queensland's Gold Coast, selling land at Burleigh Heads and Surfers Paradise on commission. Using his savings he returned to banana-growing, eventually becoming one of Australia's most successful producers. He helped establish the New South Wales Banana Growers' Federation in 1928 and was an advocate for research into bunchy top.[1] By 1944 he reportedly had over 200 acres (81 ha) under cultivation.[4]
Politics
Anthony in 1938
In 1937 Anthony was elected to the House of Representatives as Country Party member for the seat of Richmond. As a powerful figure in the party he had rapid promotion. He was an Honorary Minister 1940–1941, and Minister for Transport in 1941. During the years of the wartime Australian Labor Party government (1941–1949), he was a senior member of the Opposition.[1]
In 1921, Anthony married Mary Jessie Stirling. He was widowed in 1941 and in 1946 married Lyndall Marion Thornton (née Ingram), a widow. He had a daughter and two sons from his first marriage and another daughter from his second marriage.[1]
Anthony's son John Douglas Anthony succeeded him in federal parliament upon his death and went on to serve as leader of the Country Party and deputy prime minister of Australia. Doug's son Lawrence James Anthony also held the seat of Richmond and was a government minister, becoming the first three-generation dynasty in the House of Representatives.[1]
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