 Complete the following phrase:  Born at Mount Blowhard, Victoria, to Scottish-born parents Robert Baird, a farmer, and Agnes McKerrow, he attended Learmonth State School and University College in Ballarat. After working on his fathers farm he served in South Africa from 1901 to 1902 as a trooper with the Victorian Mounted Rifles. After his matriculation in 1904 he was admitted as a solicitor in 1910, partnering with his brother Robert. He married Ruby Melita Coutts in 1913. Having joined the citizen militia, he became a captain in 1913 and served in the Australian Imperial Force from 1915 to 1916 in Egypt and 