Daniel Connor

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Daniel Connor (1831–12 January 1898) was a convict transported to Western Australia, who became one of the wealthiest men in the colony.

Daniel Connor was born in County Kerry, Ireland in 1831. Nothing is known of his early life, but in 1850 he was sentenced to seven years transportation for sheep stealing. He arrived in Western Australia on the Phoebe Dunbar in August 1853. During his time as a convict he went by the surname Connors; Stephenson (1983) states that this was "to confuse researchers of his history in later years". Connor received his ticket of leave on 11 August 1854, and his conditional pardon on 17 November 1855. In 1859 he married Catherine Conway.

Connor worked as a hawker until 1861, then bought land in Newcastle (now Toodyay), upon which he built a small store. He later purchased a number of other town lots, building upon a number of them. In 1870 he had a steam mill built, and over the next decade gained control over a number of large rural estates by lending money to the owners. He purchased the Freemason's Hotel in 1873.

Connor became active in public affairs; he was a member of the Toodyay Road Board from 1871 until his death in 1898. He became a member of the Newcastle Municipal Council, and also served on the Toodyay Education Board.

During the 1880s, Connor sold many of his Newcastle properties, investing in land at Perth and Fremantle. In 1883 he bought the Shamrock Hotel. Later that year, his daughter Teresa married Timothy Quinlan, and Connor and Quinlan went into partnership. By the 1890s, Connor was one of the largest landowners in central Perth. When he died at his home on 12 January 1898, his estate was valued at over £76000.

Daniel Connor's son Michael, who took the surname "O'Connor", presumably to obscure his convict parentage, became a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly.

[edit] References

• Stevenson, Robert (1983). “Daniel Connor”, Erickson, Rica (ed): The Brand on His Coat: Biographies of some Western Australian Convicts. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press, pp. 239–245. ISBN 0-85564-223-8.