Tommy Ryan (politician)

Tommy Ryan
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Barcoo
In office
5 March 1892 – 20 May 1893
Preceded by Frank Murphy
Succeeded by George Kerr
Personal details
Born Thomas Joseph Ryan
1852
At sea off Mauritius
Died Unknown
Nationality Australian
Political party Labour Party
Occupation Pearl fisher, Shearer

Thomas Joseph "Tommy" Ryan (born 1852 – death unknown) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. He represented the seat of Barcoo from 1892 to 1893.[1]

Ryan was from Fremantle in Western Australia, where he had been educated by the Christian Brothers. He first worked in the pearling industry, but moved to Cooktown, Queensland in 1876. He variously worked as a "packer, digger, shearer, butcher, fencer, drover and storekeeper".[2] While shearing in Queensland, Ryan became involved in the nascent trade union movement, initially as shed representative. He subsequently worked as a union organiser after being refused employment due to his union activities, rising to become secretary of the Queensland Labourers' Union.[3]

Ryan was secretary of the strike committee in the 1891 Australian shearers' strike, organising resistance at Barcaldine, Clermont and Winton. He was one of the leaders arrested and tried at Rockhampton, but unlike most of the leaders, was acquitted. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly at an 1892 by-election for the seat of Barcoo following the death of MP Frank Murphy, becoming one of the first Labor MPs in Australia with the support of the unions and the new Labor Party. However, he was disendorsed by the Labor Party for the 1893 election, retired from politics, and returned to being a shearer.[4][5][6]

References

  1. ↑ "Former Members". Parliament of Queensland. 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "THE MEMBER FOR BARCOO". The Freeman's Journal. XLIII (2512). Sydney. 30 April 1892. p. 19. Retrieved 2 September 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "Barcoo Is the Cradle of Labour In Queensland". The Worker. 54 (2911). Brisbane. 19 April 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 2 September 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "What Became of Tommy Ryan?". The Southern Mail. New South Wales. 11 February 1949. p. 8. Retrieved 2 September 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "The Barcoo Election". Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette. XXV (3081). Queensland. 13 May 1893. p. 2 (Supplement to the Gympie Times). Retrieved 2 September 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "Pioneer of Labor Politics". The Australian Worker. 55 (5). New South Wales. 30 January 1946. p. 9. Retrieved 2 September 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
Parliament of Queensland
Preceded by
Frank Murphy		 Member for Barcoo
1892–1893		 Succeeded by
George Kerr


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