Patrick Glynn
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Patrick McMahon Glynn KC (25 August 1855 – 28 October 1931) was a former Attorney General of Australia and Minister for External Affairs.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Gort, County Galway, Ireland and educated at the French College, Blackrock and Trinity College, Dublin, Glynn graduated with a BA and LLB, and was the medallist for Oratory at the Law Students Debating Society of Ireland in 1880. The same year saw Glynn immigrate to Australia.
[edit] Political career
Glynn was admitted to the Victorian bar. His time in Victoria was not a success and in 1882 he moved to Kapunda, South Australia to open a branch of an Adelaide based law firm. His success in Kapunda allowed him to open his own law firm in Adelaide and involve himself in the political sphere. He also edited for some time the Kapunda Herald.
Glynn served as president of the South Australian branch of the Irish National League and helped found the South Australian Land Nationalisation Society. His community profile assisted him in his election to the South Australian House of Assembly as the member for Light in 1887. As an advocate of free trade, Glynn was considered a conservative but his support of progressive issues like female suffrage and land nationalisation isolated him from his conservative colleagues.
Glynn was defeated at the 1890 election and stood unsuccessfully for Light again at the 1893 election but returned to South Australian colonial politics in 1895 as the member for North Adelaide and in his re-election in 1897, became the first person to be elected in Australia under adult suffrage.
Glynn was a member of the Convention that framed the Australian Commonwealth constitution in 1897-98, contributing a reference to God in the preamble to the Australian Constitution, and helped found the Free Trade Party, one of the major parties in early twentieth century Australian politics. In the lead up to the inaugural federal election, Glynn acted as the informal deputy leader of the Free Trade Party and managed the Free Trade election campaigns in South Australia and Western Australia, while Free Trade leader George Reid oversaw the rest of Australia. As a result, Glynn was not only comfortably elected to parliament as a member for South Australia but, together with Reid, he is said to have "created Australia's first national political campaign."
At the 1903 election, Glynn was returned unopposed as the member for Angas and was unopposed in 1910, 1913 and 1914 before losing his seat at the 1919 election. While in parliament, Glynn served variously as Attorney General, Minister for External Affairs and Minister for Home and Territories.
[edit] Late life
Glynn retired from politics in 1919, and died at North Adelaide in 1931. He married Abigail Dynon, who predeceased him, and was survived by two sons and four daughters. He was a fine Shakespearian scholar; several of his literary papers were published, as were also various legal and political pamphlets.
[edit] References
- McGinn, W.G. (1989). George Reid. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne. ISBN 0522843735.
- Simms (ed.), M. (2001). 1901: The forgotton election. University of Queensland Press, Brisbane. ISBN 0-7022-3302-1.
- O'Collins, G. (1983). "Glynn, Patrick McMahon (1855 - 1931)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9. MUP, pp 30–32. ISSN 1833-7538.
- Serle, Percival (1949). "Glynn, Patrick". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain 1949 edition of Dictionary of Australian Biography from Project Gutenberg of Australia, which is in the public domain in Australia and the United States of America.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Billy Hughes |
Attorney General 1909–1910 |
Succeeded by Billy Hughes |
| Preceded by Josiah Thomas |
Minister for External Affairs 1913–1914 |
Succeeded by John Arthur |
| Preceded by Fred Bamford |
Minister for Home and Territories 1917–1920 |
Succeeded by Alexander Poynton |
| Parliament of Australia | ||
| New division | Member for South Australia 1901–1903 Served alongside: Batchelor, Bonython, Holder, Kingston, Poynton, Solomon |
Divided into single- member divisions |
| New division | Member for Angas 1903–1919 |
Succeeded by Moses Gabb |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Glynn, Patrick |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Attorney General of Australia and Minister for External Affairs. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 25 August 1855 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gort, County Galway, Ireland |
| DATE OF DEATH | 28 October 1931 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | North Adelaide, South Australia |
