[Index]
Leslie Clement 'Les' HAYLEN (1898 - 1977)
journalist, playwrite, politician
Children Self + Spouses Parents Grandparents Greatgrandparents
Leslie Clement 'Les' HAYLEN (1898 - 1977)

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Sylvia Myrtle ROGERS (1910 - 1983)
 Thomas HAYLEN (1848 - 1922) Patrick HAYLAN (1814 - 1857) Thomas HAYLAN
Mary DALY
Bridget KEATING (1814 - 1884) Thomas KEATING


Catherine DAY (1855 - 1932) William Henry DAY (1826 - 1916) Mark Marcellas DAY
Margaret MANSFIELD
Bridget BUTLER (1835 - 1905) John BUTLER (1808 - 1883)
Ellen CROWE (1814 - 1883)
Leslie Clement Sylvia Myrtle ROGERS
Leslie Clement Leslie Clement
Leslie Clement Sylvia Myrtle ROGERS Leslie Clement Leslie Clement
b. 23 Sep 1898 at Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
m. 30 Apr 1927 Sylvia Myrtle ROGERS (1910 - 1983) at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
d. 12 Sep 1977 at Lewisham, New South Wales, Australia aged 78
Near Relatives of Leslie Clement 'Les' HAYLEN (1898 - 1977)
Relationship Person Born Birth Place Died Death Place Age
Grandfather Patrick HAYLAN 1814 Kilmonaghan, Ireland 17 Jun 1857 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 43
Grandmother Bridget KEATING abt 1814 Ireland 10 May 1884 Yass, New South Wales, Australia 70
Grandfather William Henry DAY 1826 Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia 28 Feb 1916 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 90
Grandmother Bridget BUTLER 1835 Co Clare, Ireland 15 Jul 1905 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 70

Father Thomas HAYLEN 1848 Co Westmeath, Ireland 13 Jul 1922 Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia 74
Mother Catherine DAY 1855 Beechworth, Victoria, Australia 28 May 1932 Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia 77

Self Leslie Clement 'Les' HAYLEN 23 Sep 1898 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 12 Sep 1977 Lewisham, New South Wales, Australia 78

Wife Sylvia Myrtle ROGERS abt 1910 20 Nov 1983 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 73

Sister Bridget Francis HAYLEN 1873 Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia
Brother Edward Patrick HAYLEN 1874 Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia 1886 Gundaroo, New South Wales, Australia 12
Brother William Henry HAYLEN 1876 Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia 1950 Randwick, New South Wales, Australia 74
Sister Mary Louisa HAYLEN 1878 Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia
Brother Thomas James HAYLEN 1880 Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia
Brother Mark Matthew HAYLEN 1883 Yass, New South Wales, Australia 1964 St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia 81
Brother Edward Patrick Michael HAYLEN 1886 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1972 St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia 86
Sister Catherine Ellen HAYLEN 1888 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Sister Agnes Mary HAYLEN 1891 Gundaroo, New South Wales, Australia
Brother John Joseph HAYLEN 1894 Sutton, New South Wales, Australia 1969 Newtown, New South Wales, Australia 75

Uncle James HAYLAN 1837 Ireland
Aunt Mary Jane SWEENEY 1850 Collector, Monaro, New South Wales, Australia
Aunt Bridget HAYLAN 1838 Ireland
Uncle Peter REILEY
Aunt Mary HAYLAN 1843 Ireland
Uncle George PADDISON
Uncle Francis HAVENHAND
Aunt Catherine HAYLAN 1845 Ireland
Uncle James PARTINGTON
Aunt Ellen Margaret DAY 1851 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 31 Jul 1942 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 91
Uncle Bartholomew (Barnie) CULLEN 1844 Picton, New South Wales, Australia
Uncle John DAY 1852 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 18 Feb 1927 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 75
Aunt Agnes CROSSEY 1859 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 1927 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 68
Uncle Mark DAY 1854 Beechwood, Victoria, Australia 02 Jul 1920 Marrickville, Sydney, Australia 66
Aunt Winifred FLYNN
Uncle Michael James DAY 1859 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 05 Nov 1924 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 65
Aunt Charlotte BROWN abt 1862 26 Apr 1938 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 76
Aunt Sarah E DAY 1861 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 22 Feb 1916 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 55
Uncle James Henry SMITH 1862 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 30 Jun 1943 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 81
Aunt Mary Jane DAY 1863 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Uncle WIlliam Henry DAY 1865 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 03 Feb 1916 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 51
Aunt Adelaide Amelia May SMITH 1870 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Aunt Blanche Augusta DAY 1868 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 01 Nov 1936 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 68
Uncle William John SMITH 1861 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 01 Dec 1917 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 56
Uncle Volney Patrick DAY 1870 Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia 31 Mar 1950 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 80
Aunt Annie HAYDON
Uncle Francis Charles DAY 1873 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 29 Aug 1958 Lidcombe, New South Wales, Australia 85
Aunt Catherine RUDD 1875 Currawong, New South Wales, Australia 05 May 1954 Auburn, New South Wales, Australia 79

Cousin Louisa Susannah CULLEN 1885 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Selina Beatrice CULLEN 1887 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Constance Agnes DAY 1880 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin William John DAY 1882 Argyle, New South Wales, Australia 1954 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 72
Cousin Harold Ernest DAY 1883 Argyle, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Gertrude Mary DAY 1888 Argyle, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Arthur James DAY 1891 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1902 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 11
Cousin Ada Frances DAY 1893 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Margaret Eileen DAY 1895 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Mabel Minnie DAY 1898 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1899 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1
Cousin Millie Maud DAY 1901 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1903 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 2
Cousin John DAY 1878 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1954 Auburn, New South Wales, Australia 76
Cousin William DAY 1880 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Kate DAY 1882 Boorowa, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Ellen Margaret DAY 1884 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Michael James DAY 1886 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Volney Patrick DAY 1888 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Bridget Butler DAY 1890 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Mark DAY 1892 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Mary Jane Johnson DAY 1894 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Leo Horace DAY 1897 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1898 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1
Cousin George BROCKWAY
Cousin Oswald CORNFIELD
Cousin Ada Mary DAY 1880 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1883 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 3
Cousin Henry William DAY 1882 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1961 West Wyalong, New South Wales, Australia 79
Cousin Horace Abraham DAY 1885 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1889 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 4
Cousin Ellen Rosetta DAY 1887 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Mary Etta Evelyn DAY 1889 Hoskinstown, New South Wales, Australia 02 Oct 1957 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 68
Cousin Charlotte Isabella DAY 1892 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Blanche Augusta DAY 1895 Hoskinstown, New South Wales, Australia 1901 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 6
Cousin Michael James DAY 1897 Hoskinstown, New South Wales, Australia 1967 Balmain, New South Wales, Australia 70
Cousin Rebecca Ruby DAY 1900 Hoskinstown, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Lilian Teresa DAY 1902 Hoskinstown, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Harold Ernest SMITH 1882 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Clara May SMITH 1884 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Stanley Francis Herbert SMITH 1886 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin James Henry SMITH 1888 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Theresa Frances SMITH 1891 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Sophia Helena SMITH 1892 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Henry Joseph Patrick SMITH 1894 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Bridget Anne SMITH 1897 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Catherine Ellen SMITH 1898 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Mary Jane SMITH 1898 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Florence Pearl SMITH 1899 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Louisa Jane SMITH 1901 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Mark Francis DAY 1887 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1955 Crookwell, New South Wales, Australia 68
Cousin Bridget Ellen DAY 1889 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin William Henry Herbert DAY 1891 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1970 Junee, New South Wales, Australia 79
Cousin John Patrick DAY 1894 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1964 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 70
Cousin Mary Anne Josephine DAY 1897 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Priscilla Jane DAY 1899 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Amelia Blanche DAY 1901 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Kathleen Emily DAY 1904 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Michael Joseph DAY 1907 Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Lucy Ruby DAY 1909 Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Ada Mary SMITH 1886 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Ellen Jane SMITH 1888 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Irene Gertrude SMITH 1891 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin William John SMITH 1894 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Amy Beatrice SMITH 1896 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Francis Claude SMITH 1900 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Bartholomew SMITH 1906 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Thomas Joseph William DAY 1897 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1919 Cooma, Monaro, New South Wales, Australia 22
Cousin Sylvester James DAY 1900 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Patrick Volney DAY 1903 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1966 Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia 63
Cousin Forster Francis Charles DAY 1896 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Alice Ellen DAY 1898 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Alfred Michael James DAY 1899 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1912 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 13
Cousin Ivy Ellen Margaret DAY 1901 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Mary Jane Joanna DAY 1904 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Ruby Lavina May DAY 1906 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Edna Catherine Blanche DAY 1908 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Patrick Francis DAY 1910 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Stanley James DAY 1913 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia

Events in Leslie Clement 'Les' HAYLEN (1898 - 1977)'s life
Date Age Event Place Notes Src
23 Sep 1898 Leslie Clement 'Les' HAYLEN was born Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 3381/1898 6
13 Jul 1922 23 Death of father Thomas HAYLEN (aged 74) Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia 3579/1922, Hayler 6
30 Apr 1927 28 Married Sylvia Myrtle ROGERS (aged 17) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 62
28 May 1932 33 Death of mother Catherine DAY (aged 77) Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia 8658/1932 6
12 Sep 1977 78 Leslie Clement 'Les' HAYLEN died Lewisham, New South Wales, Australia 22747/1977
Source References:
6. Type: Book, Abbr: Queanbeyan Register, Title: Biographical register of Canberra and Queanbeyan: from the district to the Australian Capital Territory 1820-1930, Auth: Peter Proctor, Publ: The Heraldry & Genealogical Society of Canberra, Date: 2001
- Reference = 140 (Name, Notes)
- Reference = 140 (Birth)
62. Type: Web Page, Abbr: Australian Dictionary of Biography, Title: Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition, Publ: ANU, Locn: http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/adbonline.htm
- Reference = https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/haylen-leslie-clement-les-10466 (Name, Notes)
- Notes: Leslie Clement (Les) Haylen (1898–1977)
by R. E. Northey

Leslie Clement (Les) Haylen (1898-1977), politician, playwright, novelist and journalist, was born on 23 September 1898 at Woodfield, near Queanbeyan, New South Wales, youngest of twelve children of Thomas Haylen, a maintenance man from Ireland, and his Victorian-born wife Catherine, née Day. His parents were small farmers before they moved to Sydney about 1908. Raised as a Catholic, Les was later to lose his faith. He was influenced by his grandfather William Henry Day, who loved literature, and by (Dame) Mary Gilmore, a family friend. In Sydney, he attended high school and began work as a bank clerk.

Enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force on 6 July 1918, Haylen embarked for Europe in October, but the troop-ship was recalled and he was discharged in January 1919. He re-enlisted in June and sailed for London next month as an escort for German prisoners being repatriated in the Trás-os-Montes. Back in Sydney in November, he was successively employed as a journalist on the Sunday Times, as theatre critic on the Sun and as news editor on the Sunday Times. At the registrar general's office, Chancery Square, on 30 April 1927 he married Sylvia Myrtle Rogers, a shop-assistant.

They moved to Wagga Wagga where Les was the Daily Advertiser's chief sub-editor and leader-writer. His anti-war play, Two Minutes' Silence, was staged in Sydney in 1930. It ran for twenty-six weeks and was enthusiastically reviewed by Kenneth Slessor. In 1933 the McDonagh sisters produced a film version of the play. After a brief stint on the Orange Leader, Haylen returned to Sydney. In 1933 he joined the Australian Women's Weekly as news editor. He wrote the plays, Change of Policy (1934) and Freedom has a Beard (1937), and three novels about early Australian life, The Game Darrells (1933), The Brierley Rose (1935) and Brown Boy Singing (1940). The novels were serialized in the Women's Weekly before their publication as books and their subsequent production as radio serials.

In 1942, when Haylen sought Australian Labor Party pre-selection for the Federal seat of Parkes in south-west Sydney, (Sir) Frank Packer terminated his contract with Consolidated Press Ltd. Haylen was appointed editor of the A.L.P.'s new official newspaper, the Standard. He gained the pre-selection in 1943. Shunning official party publicity-material, he wrote his own and unexpectedly defeated Sir Charles Marr in the elections that year. Haylen's margin was 1020, one of the largest in his twenty-year hold on Parkes.

His maiden speech proclaimed his interest in cultivating 'the spirit of Australianism' through literature, theatre and art, and he sought financial aid for Australian artists and writers. Around parliament, he quickly established a reputation as a bon vivant, 'with plenty of charm, wit and a sharp tongue'. No Labor Party machine-man, he was regarded with suspicion by those who were. He was committed to socialism and read widely on the subject. Parish-pump politics bored him and he described formal occasions in his electorate as 'fetes worse than death'; he preferred foreign affairs and economics.

In 1944 Haylen acted as publicity director for the 'fourteen powers' referendum. Next year Arthur Calwell chose him as chairman of the Commonwealth immigration advisory committee which visited Europe to find new sources of settlers. The committee's report (1946) became the basis for Australia's ambitious postwar immigration programme. He wrote another play, Blood on the Wattle (1948), about the Eureka uprising.

Haylen narrowly missed a cabinet post after the 1946 elections. In Opposition from 1949, he was a vigorous and satirical debater in the House. His literary production included pamphlets and occasional verse. He led a parliamentary delegation to Japan in 1948 and caused a stir in Australia by shaking hands with Emperor Hirohito. That year he visited China to arrange for the migration of Europeans from Shanghai. In 1957 he headed a Labor delegation to China and in 1959 published Chinese Journey, a glowing account of changes which had taken place under the communists.

As 'Sutton Woodfield', in 1960 Haylen published A for Artemis, a satire on politics and the press; he drew in part on his experience with Packer and his feud with the Sydney cartoonist George Molnar. In 1945 Haylen had been appointed to the advisory board of the Commonwealth Literary Fund. He was president (from 1946) of the Fellowship of Australian Writers, and served on the interim council (1960-61) and the council (1961-64) of the National Library of Australia. In 1963 he was a member of a parliamentary delegation to South-East Asia.

A strong admirer of the political leaders for whom he worked, he had supported J. B. Chifley's attempts to nationalize the banks and settle the 1949 coalminers' strike, advised H. V. Evatt in his crusade against the 'groupers', and showed great loyalty to Calwell. Although Haylen claimed that he was consistent in his socialism, he was dubbed a 'political gadfly' and Labor's 'Artful Dodger' for his volatility. He stood unsuccessfully for the deputy-leadership in 1960.

Haylen's defeat at the 1963 elections was a surprise. He continued writing, and in 1965 and 1976 edited The Tracks We Travel, volumes of Australian short stories. In 1965 he also published Big Red, a novel about politics in rural Australia in the 1890s. Another play, The Stormy Blast (1966), reflected his opposition to Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. After failing to be elected to the Senate in 1964 and to be pre-selected for his old seat of Parkes in 1965, he wrote his political memoirs, Twenty Years' Hard Labor (Melbourne, 1969), which revealed his disillusionment with parliament and the A.L.P., especially its right wing. One reviewer perceptively wrote that Haylen was 'not of the old school of Labor [and] neither was he of the new'. Haylen openly admitted that he would never have entered parliament if he had been able to support his family as a writer.

Survived by his wife and two sons, he died on 12 September 1977 at Lewisham, Sydney, and was buried with Anglican rites in Rookwood cemetery. In their tributes in the House, Haylen's former colleagues recalled his wit, repartee and irreverence. Gough Whitlam remarked: 'Only Australia could have produced him'.
- Reference = https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/haylen-leslie-clement-les-10466 (Marriage)
76. Type: Web Page, Abbr: Find a Grave, Title: Find A Grave, Locn: https://www.findagrave.com/
- Reference = https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/188946012/leslie-clement-haylen (Name, Notes)
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