Ian Francis McLaren (30 March 1912 – 17 April 2000) OBE, F.R.H.S.V., was an Australian politician, accountant, businessman, historian, bibliographer and book-collector.
He was born at Launceston in Tasmania to draper Alexander Morrison McLaren and Elsie Elizabeth Gibbins.
[1] He served as its President (1956-1959)[2] and contributed to its journal, Victorian Historical Magazine, and to other history and cultural periodicals.
[5] The book collection grew so large that he had to sell his home in Malvern and buy a bigger house in the same suburb to accommodate his library.
[6] It was presented to the University of Melbourne where it is housed in the Special Collections (rare books) Department of the Baillieu Library.
[6] As a businessman, McLaren was Deputy Chairman of Kiwi International and a director of the Gas and Fuel Corporation of Victoria (1963-1965).
He died in Prahran, Victoria on 17 April 2000[9] and was survived by his wife Eileen (Chun) to whom he had been married "for 59 years"[10] and their four children.