Sir keith murdoch biography of william kent

Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch 12 August — 4 October was an Australian journalist and media proprietor who was the founder of the Murdoch media empire.

Biographical Note.

He amassed significant media holdings in Australia which after his death were expanded globally by his son Rupert. Murdoch was born in Melbourne , the son of a Presbyterian minister. He began his journalism career with The Age in , eventually becoming a parliamentary reporter. In , he moved to England as editor of Hugh Denison 's overseas cable service , where he rose to prominence as a war correspondent during World War I.

Murdoch's attacks on the Allied high command's conduct in the Gallipoli campaign brought him to the attention of senior British politicians and press barons, including Lord Northcliffe who served as a mentor. He also became a confidant of Australian prime minister Billy Hughes , although they fell out by the end of the war. He would become managing director in and chairman in , overseeing a significant expansion of the company into interstate newspaper markets and commercial radio.

Murdoch established a monopoly in the Adelaide newspaper market in and in established The Courier-Mail as Brisbane's daily newspaper; he also controlled The West Australian for several years. Outside of his business activities Murdoch was an art collector, serving as chairman of the National Gallery of Victoria and endowing a chair of fine arts at the University of Melbourne.

He had four children with his wife Elisabeth , a prominent philanthropist.

Sir Keith Murdoch, chairman of directors of the Herald and Weekly Times Ltd., died peacefully in his sleep at his country home at Frankston during the night.

He retired in , dying of cancer in Its holding company News Limited formed the basis for his only son Rupert's global media empire. Patrick John Murdoch , who had married in and migrated from Cruden , Scotland , to Victoria, Australia , with his family in His paternal grandfather was a minister with the Free Church of Scotland , and his maternal grandfather was a Presbyterian minister.

The family moved from West Melbourne to the affluent suburb of Camberwell in