John Kirwan (Australian politician)

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Portrait of Kirwan, circa 1901-1904.
Portrait of Kirwan, circa 1901-1904.

Sir John Waters Kirwan, KCMG (2 December 1869 – 9 September 1949) was the President of the Western Australian Legislative Council and first Federal member for Kalgoorlie in the Australian House of Representatives.

He was born in Liverpool, England(of Irish parents), and did literary work in London and Dublin before coming to Australia in 1889.[1] At first, he continued writing in Brisbane, Melbourne and South Australian newspapers but moved to Kalgoorlie in 1895, attracted by the great gold discoveries.

In Kalgoorlie, he edited both the Western Argus and Kalgoorlie Miner newspapers, with the latter growing in size and importance under his editorship. In 1898, he stood for the Legislative Council seat of North-East Province and lost by 90 votes.[1] In 1901, he agreed to stand for the federal seat of Kalgoorlie and won the seat comfortably. During his time in federal politics he was a member of the Royal Commission on Iron Bonuses. He was defeated by the Labor nominee C. E. Frazer in the second federal election.[2]

In 1908 he was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council where he sat until 1946, being its President from 1926 to 1946. In 1912 he married Teresa Gertrude and they had three living sons (a twin male died at birth), two grandchildren ( a boy and a girl) and three great grandchildren (a girl and two boys). He died in the Perth suburb of Subiaco in 1949.[1]

[edit] Honours

He was knighted in 1930 and appointed K.C.M.G. in 1947.[1]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Simpson, Pat. Kirwan, Sir John Waters (1869 - 1949). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved on 2007-08-12.
  2. ^ Raeside J (1996). Golden Days: being Memoirs & Reminiscences of the Goldfields of Western Australia. Hesperian Press. ISBN 0-85905-204-4. 
Parliament of Australia
New division Member for Kalgoorlie
1901 – 1903		 Succeeded by
Charles Frazer
Persondata
NAME Kirwan, John Waters
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Australian journalist and politician
DATE OF BIRTH 2 December 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH Liverpool, England
DATE OF DEATH 9 September 1949
PLACE OF DEATH Subiaco, Western Australia