Muirhead Collins
Captain Sir Robert Henry Muirhead Collins was an English-born Royal Navy officer, Colonial naval officer, Colonial public servant, Australian Federationist, Australian public service department head and Australia's official representative in London.
Life summary
| 1852 | Born 20 September 1852, Chew Magna, Somerset, England | |
| 1866 | 1877 | Joins Royal Navy |
| 1876 | Appointed Lieutenant | |
| 1877 | Appointed Lieutenant Commander; retired from Royal Navy | |
| 1877 | Appointed lieutenant in the Permanent Victorian Naval Forces, Victoria, Australia | |
| 1884 | Appointed Commander, PVNF | |
| 1886 | Retired from Victorian navy with rank of Captain | |
| 1886 | Married Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. Samuel Brush, pastoralist, of Boondara, New South Wales. | |
| 1886 | 1901 | Secretary for Defence in Colony of Australia |
| 1901 | 1906 | Inaugural Secretary of the Australian Department of Defence |
| 1904 | Appointed CMG | |
| 1906 | 1910 | Official Secretary to the Commonwealth of Australia in London |
| 1913 | Delegate for the Commonwealth Government at the International Conference on Lifesaving at Sea in London | |
| 1917 | Retired | |
| 1919 | Knighted KCMG | |
| 1927 | Died 19 April 1927, Bath, Somerset, England |
Collins was born to Dr Charles Howell Collins, a surgeon, and his Henrietta Jane Heaven. Collins died in 1927 and was survived by his wife and their son, Major Howel Collins of the Australian Army.