Bill Sheahan (politician)

William Francis Sheahan (Billy Sheahan) QC (3 September 1895 – 27 December 1975) was an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

Born in Tumut, New South Wales, the son of the publicans of the hotel at Jugiong, Sheahan attended schools in Tumut and Goulburn.

Sheahan gained work as a clerk in the Crown Law Department in 1914 before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force in 1916, serving in France and Flanders. Following World War I, Sheahan returned to the Crown Law Department, working there until 1930, when he received a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney and established a large criminal law practice.

Elected the Australian Labor Party member for the New South Wales Electoral district of Yass in 1941, Sheahan served in parliament until 1973 (from 1950 as the member for Burrinjuck), holding the portfolios of Attorney-General of New South Wales, Minister for Transport and Minister for Health between 1950 and 1965. His son Terry Sheahan succeeded him as Member for Burrinjuck.

Sheahan died in Sydney.^[1]

Honours

He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1953.

The Sheahan Bridge near Gundagai was named in his honour. It is an 1143 metre concrete and steel bridge on the Hume Highway. It replaced the Prince Alfred bridge as the crossing of the Murrumbidgee River. It was opened in 1977. It is the second longest bridge in Australia after the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

References