Edwin McCarthy

Sir Edwin McCarthy CBE
Secretary of the Department of Commerce and Agriculture
In office 21 November 1945 – 26 April 1950
Personal details
Born	Edwin McCarthy (1896-03-30)30 March 1896 Walhalla, Victoria, Australia
Died	4 September 1980(1980-09-04) (aged 84) Woden Valley Hospital, Garran, Canberra, Australia
Resting place	Gungahlin Cemetery
Spouse	Marjorie Mary Graham ​ ​ (m. 1939)​
Children	John McCarthy, Melisande McCarthy
Occupation	Public servant

Sir Edwin McCarthy CBE (30 March 1896 – 4 September 1980) was a senior Australian public servant and diplomat. He was a prominent senior trade official, including as head of the Department of Commerce and Agriculture between 1945 and 1950.

McCarthy was born in Walhalla, Victoria on 30 March 1896 to parents Catherine McCarthy (née Kennedy) and Daniel McCarthy.^[1]

He joined the Commonwealth Public Service as a messenger in the Postmaster-General's Department in April 1911.^[2]

McCarthy married Marjorie Mary Graham on 4 July 1939 in Sydney.^[1] The couple had two children: a daughter, and a son, John McCarthy.^[3]

From 1945 to 1950, McCarthy was Secretary of the Department of Commerce and Agriculture.^[4] His primary expertise was grain commodity matters, and he devised the Australian wheat price stabilisation scheme after World War II.^[2]

Between 1958 and 1962, McCarthy was Australian Ambassador to the Netherlands.^[5] He was accredited to Belgium also, from 1959.^[6]

In 1962, McCarthy was appointed Head of the Australian Permanent Mission to the European Atomic Energy Community in Brussels.^[7]

McCarthy died on 4 September 1980 at Woden Valley Hospital in Garran, Canberra.^[1] He had been admitted earlier within the same week after a brain aneurysm.^[8]

McCarthy was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in June 1952, while serving as Deputy High Commissioner in London.^[9] He was made a Knight Bachelor in June 1955, whilst serving in the same role.^[10]