Andrew Joseph Kelly (1 January 1854 – 3 September 1913) was a Labor Party politician who served as Member for Lachlan in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

from 1891 to 1913.

Background

Andrew Kelly was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in 1854 and went to sea at a young age. He worked for a period as a wharf labourer in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England and also served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

for 3 years. He settled in Sydney in 1881, where he worked again as a wharf labourer. He was active in the Wharf Labourers Union, and participated in the 1882 strike. He later worked as a

drayman A drayman was historically the driver of a dray, a low, flat-bed wagon without sides, pulled generally by horses or mules that were used to transport all kinds of goods. Modern use The word "drayman" is used in U.S. ports as the over the road ...

and helped to establish the Trolley and Draymen's Union. He served as president of the union during a strike in 1890. He was elected President of the Sydney Trades and Labour Council in 1889. He was also active in local government, serving as alderman on

Sydney City Council The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

from 1900 to 1906 and 1909 to 1913. From 1895 to 1899 he worked as publican of the Exchange Hotel in

West Wyalong West Wyalong is the main town of the Bland Shire in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Located west of Sydney and above sea level, it is situated on the crossroads of the Newell Highway between Melbourne and Brisbane, and the ...

Parliamentary career

Andrew Kelly was a foundation member of the Labor Party and served as Member for West Sydney from 1891 to 1894, Member for Sydney-Denison from 1901 to 1904 and Member for Lachlan from 1904 until his death in 1913.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Andrew 1854 births 1913 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian waterside workers Australian people of Irish descent Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales