Background
The son of a primary school headmaster, Fred Alexander was born in Victoria on 12 April 1899.
The son of a primary school headmaster, Fred Alexander was born in Victoria on 12 April 1899.
Melbourne High School.
He was the founding Head of the University of Western Australia"s Department of History, where he was instrumental in the development of the history curriculum. However, he developed an interest in history under the influence of Professor Ernest Scott, and deferred his law studies to obtain a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in history. During his second year at Balliol, he suffered from a recurrent illness, and in 1923 he was advised by his doctors to take a long sea voyage.
That year, he sailed for Melbourne.
When his ship docked at Fremantle, Western Australia, he took the opportunity to visit Edward Shann, the foundation professor of History and Economics at the University of Western Australia. He arrived in Perth in September 1924.
In 1949-1950, he spent four months in South Africa as a Carnegie Fellow, an experience which caused him to concentrate on Commonwealth history. He retired in 1966.