Frank Sleeman


Frank Northey Sleeman was Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1976 to 1982.

Early life and education

Sleeman grew up in Redfern, Sydney. He attended Canterbury Boys' High School.

Military Service and Prisoner of War

Sleeman was an Army lieutenant at the outbreak of the Second World War. He was captured by the Japanese and spent 3 years and 8 months as a prisoner of war in Jentsuji Prison Camp Japan.
After the war, Sleeman settled in Townsville and worked as a salesman for the Australian General Electric Company. He married Norma Robinson on 29 December 1945.

Lord Mayor of Brisbane

Major Sleeman became Lord Mayor of Brisbane in 1976 after the Labor party leader in the Brisbane City Council, Bryan Walsh, failed to hold his ward. The major project of his time in office was the building of the site for the 1982 Commonwealth Games, which is now named the Sleeman Centre in his honour.
Frank Sleeman died on 1 August 2000 in a Freemason's nursing home at Sandgate, Queensland, aged 85.

Books and articles