John Grey Gorton was the second child of Alice Sinn and John Rose Gorton; his older sister Ruth was born in 1909.
He had no birth certificate, but on official forms recorded his date of birth as 9 September 1911 and his place of birth as Wellington, New Zealand.
His birth was registered in the state of Victoria as occurring on that date, but in the inner Melbourne suburb of Prahran.
However, that document contained a number of inaccuracies – his name was given as "John Alga Gordon", his parents were recorded as husband and wife, his father's name was incorrect, and his sister was recorded as deceased.
At some point, Gorton's father told him that he had actually been born in Wellington.
There are no records of his birth in New Zealand, but his parents are known to have travelled there on several occasions.
John Gorton apparently believed he was born in Wellington, listing the city as his place of birth on his RAAF enlistment papers.

If John Gorton was indeed born in New Zealand, this would have made him a New Zealand citizen from 1 January 1949 under changes to New Zealand nationality law.
Holding dual-citizenship would have rendered Gorton ineligible to sit in Australia's federal parliament under Section 44 of the Australian Constitution.
Gorton's eligibility to have sat in parliament throughout his career is therefore unclear.

Gorton's father was born to a middle-class family in Manchester, England, UK.
As a young man he moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he went into business as a merchant – during the Boer War, he developed a reputation as a war profiteer.
He reputedly escaped the Siege of Ladysmith by sneaking through Boer lines, and then made his way to Australia.
He was involved in various business schemes in multiple states, and was to said to have "lived on the brink of a fortune which never quite materialised".
One of his business partners was the inventor George Julius.
At some point, Gorton's father separated from his first wife, Kathleen O'Brien, and began living with Alice Sinn – born in Melbourne to a German father and an Irish mother.
However, Kathleen refused to grant him a divorce.
Some official documents record Gorton's parents as having married in New Zealand at some point, but there are no records of this occurring; any such marriage would have been bigamous.
Gorton never denied his illegitimacy as an adult, but it did not become generally known until a biography was published during his premiership.
John Grey Gorton was the second child of Alice Sinn and John Rose Gorton; his older sister Ruth was born in 1909. He had no birth certificate, but on official forms recorded his date of birth as 9 September 1911 and his place of birth as Wellington, New Zealand. His birth was registered in the state of Victoria as occurring on that date, but in the inner Melbourne suburb of Prahran. However, that document contained a number of inaccuracies – his name was given as "John Alga Gordon", his parents were recorded as husband and wife, his father's name was incorrect, and his sister was recorded as deceased. At some point, Gorton's father told him that he had actually been born in Wellington. There are no records of his birth in New Zealand, but his parents are known to have travelled there on several occasions. John Gorton apparently believed he was born in Wellington, listing the city as his place of birth on his RAAF enlistment papers. 
If John Gorton was indeed born in New Zealand, this would have made him a New Zealand citizen from 1 January 1949 under changes to New Zealand nationality law. Holding dual-citizenship would have rendered Gorton ineligible to sit in Australia's federal parliament under Section 44 of the Australian Constitution. Gorton's eligibility to have sat in parliament throughout his career is therefore unclear.
Gorton's father was born to a middle-class family in Manchester, England, UK. As a young man he moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he went into business as a merchant – during the Boer War, he developed a reputation as a war profiteer. He reputedly escaped the Siege of Ladysmith by sneaking through Boer lines, and then made his way to Australia. He was involved in various business schemes in multiple states, and was to said to have "lived on the brink of a fortune which never quite materialised". One of his business partners was the inventor George Julius. At some point, Gorton's father separated from his first wife, Kathleen O'Brien, and began living with Alice Sinn – born in Melbourne to a German father and an Irish mother. However, Kathleen refused to grant him a divorce. Some official documents record Gorton's parents as having married in New Zealand at some point, but there are no records of this occurring; any such marriage would have been bigamous. Gorton never denied his illegitimacy as an adult, but it did not become generally known until a biography was published during his premiership.
John Gorton