Family background
Norman William Vivian Macqueen was born at Glebe in 1896, son of William George Macqueen and Alice. In 1926 he married Isabella Lauder Raith at Glebe. He died on 3 May 1970, aged 74 years. Isabella Macqueen died on 3 October 1976, aged 74 years.
Occupation & interests
Dentists served an apprenticeship with a master, and learned their skills that way. The transition of the dental profession from marginal to established status began in 1900 with the Dentists Act defining qualifications for registration. Norman worked with his father, a Glebe dentist for more than 30 years. After graduating from dental mechanic to dental surgeon, Norman ran a cottage practice with the surgery occupying the front room at 134 Glebe Road from 1928, working there for 20 years.
Community activity
The Macqueen family had a long association with Glebe as local dentists for more than 50 years, and in 1922 the office of alderman still conferred status and power on the holder.
Local government service
Norman Macqeen was an alderman on Glebe Council from 1922 to 1925. Debate on Glebe Council during Macqueen’s term on council revolved around deterioration of housing in Glebe’s poorest neighbourhoods, with the tabloid press painting a grim picture of their condition. The mayor trenchantly defended the suburb as a respectable place, though others urged more protection for women on local streets. The First World War had weakened Glebe’s social fabric, and there was the haunting spectacle of limbless soldiers begging on Sydney’s streets.
References
Glebe Municipal Council minutes 5 May 1919 p. 134; 3 December 1923, p. 46
Sydney Morning Herald, 8 August 1923 p. 13
‘Mr W G Macqeen’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 April 1928, p. 13, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16457454
Sydney Morning Herald, 4 May 1970 p. 22