Ruddock was born in 1914 in Marrickville, New South Wales, the son of Stanley Ruddock, a forestry officer, and May Myers Ruddock. He was educated at Fort Street Boys High School and later attended the University of Sydney. At university he gained a Bachelor of Economics in 1935 and a Masters three years later in 1938. Originally working as a teacher, he continued his academic studies, becoming an Associate of the Australian Society of Accountants in 1940. He married Emmie Chappell on 24 August 1940 and had two daughters and a son, Philip Maxwell. He was then employed as an economic adviser to the Commonwealth government in 1942 and the Deputy Prices Commissioner from 1942 to 1948, but was forced to return to Sydney, owing to his mother-in-law suffering from cancer. Ruddock was then appointed as a board director at David Jones Limited from 1948 to 1949, a director of Jones Brothers and became a public accountant from 1956.
Early political career
Ruddock first entered politics when he stood for and was elected as a Councillor of Hornsby Shire Council in 1954. He was elected from a single term as Deputy Shire President from December 1955 to December 1956. When he was a Councillor in 1959, Ruddock was alerted by his 16-year-old son, Philip, to a legal impediment to the State Government's desire to make the suburb of Westleigh an industrial area, thereby resulting in the preservation of the residential nature of Westleigh. Ruddock later rose to be Shire President from December 1960 to December 1961. As a prominent member of the council, he became involved in many local and regional organisations, including as the General Secretary of New South Wales Wheat and Wool Growers Association, a trustee of Lane Cove National Park and also for Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park in 1964. He became a member of the new Liberal Party and got involved on a local level. Ruddock contested and won preselection for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of The Hills, a new seat with a notional Liberal majority, taking in the northern and Liberal voting end of the seat of Blacktown. Ruddock defeated the sitting Liberal Member for Blacktown, Alfred Dennis, for preselection and Dennis subsequently contested the seat as an Independent Liberal. At the 1962 election Ruddock defeated Dennis with 56.28% of the vote and went on to hold this seat a further five times.
Later career and legacy
Ruddock remained on the backbenches, and stayed as a Hornsby Councillor until 1965. On 3 January 1975, with the ascendancy of Tom Lewis as Premier of NSW he was appointed as Assistant Treasurer of New South Wales and Minister for Revenue, an office which he held until 10 October 1975 when he was made Minister for Transport and Minister for Highways. He held these ministries until Lewis was replaced as Premier by Sir Eric Willis, who then reappointed him as Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Revenue on 23 January 1976. He held this office until the Coalition Government lost the 1976 election on 14 May 1976. He lived to see his son, Philip, elected to the Australian House of Representatives seat of Parramatta on 22 September 1973. His health in decline, having suffered all his life from a degenerative muscle disease that, by the time he entered Parliament, made walking difficult, Ruddock did not stay in politics long afterwards, resigning his seat on 25 May 1976 and retiring from public life. However, six days after retiring from politics, aged 62, on 31 May 1976 he suffered a stroke and died in hospital. A state funeral at St James' Chapel, Castle Hill, was held for him, which was attended by the Governor, Sir Roden Cutler. In his honour, Parramatta City Council dedicated the "Max Ruddock Reserve" in Winston Hills soon after his death. Philip went on to serve in the Howard Government as a Minister of the Crown, in particular as the Attorney-General of Australia from 2003 to 2007. When Philip was elected as mayor of Hornsby in September 2017, he reflected on his father's time in office, particularly in Hornsby Shire: "His record and passion for Hornsby is a demonstration of his enormous affection for this area — not to mention the fact that he was a great role model to me".
