John Kirwan (Australian politician)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Waters Kirwan (1869-1949) was the President of the Legislative Council and first Federal member for Kalgoorlie in the Australian House of Representatives.
He was born at Sandymount House, County Galway in Ireland, and did literary work in London and Dublin before coming to Australia in the early 1890s. 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 1901, he agreed to stand for the seat of Kalgoorlie and won the seat comfortably. During his time in federal politics he was a membe of the Royal Commission on Iron Bonuses. He was defeated by the Labor nominee C. E. Frazer in the second federal election.
In 1908 he was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council where he sat until 1946, being its President from 1926 to 1946.
[edit] References
- Raeside J (1996). Golden Days: being Memoirs & Reminiscences of the Goldfields of Western Australia. Hesperian Press. ISBN 0-85905-204-4.
