Peter McLachlan (politician)

Peter McLachlan
Peter McLachlan c.1921
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Fortitude Valley
In office 5 February 1908 – 27 April 1912 Serving with David Bowman
Preceded by	John McMaster
Succeeded by	David Bowman
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Merthyr
In office 22 May 1915 – 9 October 1920
Preceded by	Thomas Welsby
Succeeded by	Peter MacGregor
In office 15 May 1923 – 11 May 1929
Preceded by	Peter MacGregor
Succeeded by	Dr Patrick Kerwin
Personal details
Born	Peter Alfred McLachlan (1867-09-23)23 September 1867 Dundee, Scotland
Died	27 October 1929(1929-10-27) (aged 62) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Resting place	Lutwyche Cemetery
Nationality	Scottish Australian
Political party	ALP
Spouse(s)	Mary Donnelly (m.1892)
Occupation	Printer

Peter Alfred McLachlan (23 September 1867 – 27 October 1929) was a printer and member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.^[1]

Biography

McLachlan was born in Dundee, Scotland, to parents Andrew McLachlan^[1] and his wife Catherine (née McTavish).^[1] He came to Queensland with his family in 1873^[2] and attended Gympie Catholic School. On leaving school he became an apprentice printer, working for the The Gympie Times and then the Eidsvold Register. He then moved to Brisbane and found work as a journeyman with the Queensland Government Printing Office.^[1]

In 1892 he married Mary Donnelly.^[1] Awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by the pope, McLachlan died after entering the Mater Misericordiae Hospital to undergo an operation in October 1929.^[2] His funeral proceeded from St Stephen's Cathedral in Brisbane to the Lutwyche Cemetery.^[3]

Public career

At the 1908 Queensland state election, McLachlan, for the Labour Party, and along with David Bowman, won the two member seat of Fortitude Valley.^[4] He was the member until 1912 when the seat reverted to a one-member constituency and McLachlan then contested the new seat of Merthyr. He lost by four votes to the Ministerialist candidate, Thomas Welsby^[5] but three years later, at the 1915 Queensland state election, he won the seat, beating his opponent Mr Lackey convincingly.^[6]

He lost Merthyr at the 1920 state elections to Peter MacGregor, the Nationalist candidate^[7] but regained the seat in 1923.^[8] He lost again in the 1929 state elections to Dr Patrick Kerwin.

McLachlan was also an alderman in the Brisbane Municipal Council, from 1921 until 1924. He served on the Parks Committee for two of those years^[9] and was also Chairman of the council's Finance Committee.^[2]

He was a member of the Brisbane Chamber of Commerce, President of the Queensland Typographical Association, Secretary of the Central Queensland branches Queensland Turf Association, and a member of the Queensland Irish Association and the Hibernian Australian Catholic Benefit Society.

References