Austin Alvis Horan (2 May 1869 – 30 June 1925) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1904 to 1911, representing the seat of Yilgarn.

Early life

Horan was born in

Richmond, Tasmania Richmond is a town in Tasmania about 25 km north-east of Hobart, in the Coal River region, between the Midland Highway and Tasman Highway. At the , Richmond had a population of 880. Richmond's most famous landmark is the Richmond Bridge, ...

, to Maria (née Melody) and William Horan.Austin Alvis Horan
Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 6 October 2016. He was educated at public schools, and was eventually awarded an

Associate of Arts An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

degree, the highest qualification available in Tasmania at the time (the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...

not yet having been established). Horan moved to New South Wales in 1886, and eventually became superintendent at a coal firm. He relocated to Western Australia in 1894, during the gold rush, and became a high-level clerk with

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

, based in the

Eastern Goldfields The Eastern Goldfields is part of the Western Australian Goldfields in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, covering the present and former gold-mining area east of Perth. Extent and name origin The region encompasses the town ...

region.

Politics and later life

Horan entered parliament at the 1904 state election, standing for the Labor Party. He was opposed by Fergie Reid, his opponent for

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

in 1904, at the 1905 election,"YILGARN ELECTORATE."
''

Kalgoorlie Western Argus The ''Western Argus'' was a newspaper published in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, between 1894 and 1938. It had three different names over time: * ''Western Argus'', 1894-1896 * ''Kalgoorlie Western Argus'', 1896-1916 * ''Western Argus'', 1916- ...

'', 19 April 1904. but was re-elected with a strong majority. Horan was re-elected for a third time in 1908, but prior to 1911 election was defeated for Labor preselection by

Charles Hudson Charles Hudson may refer to: * Sir Charles Hudson, 1st Baronet (1730–1813), English baronet * Charles Hudson (American politician) (1795–1881), American historian and politician, Congressman in U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts * ...

. He contested the election as an independent, but polled only 37.4 percent in a two-candidate race. At the 1914 Legislative Council elections, Horan stood as an "independent Labor" candidate for South Province, but lost to John Kirwan. He joined the Australian Imperial Force the following year, and during the war served in England and France with the 6th Australian Tunnelling Company and the

3rd Canadian Tunnelling Company The 3rd Canadian Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Canadian Military Engineers during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines und ...

(on secondment). After the war, Horan lived in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and worked in various administrative positions. He died there in June 1925, aged 56, and was buried at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horan, Austin 1869 births 1925 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian military personnel of World War I Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Richmond, Tasmania Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery

Early life

Politics and later life

See also

References