Brendan Aloysius Lyons (17 June 1927 – 7 September 2010) was an Australian politician who served in the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 m ...

from 1982 to 1986, representing the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. He was a government minister from 1984 until his defeat at the 1986 state election. His father

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, mother Enid, and brother

Kevin Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

preceded him in politics.

Early life

Lyons was born on 17 June 1927 in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, the eighth of twelve children born to Enid (Burnell) and

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office, 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He ...

. When he was an infant his parents moved to Devonport on the island's north coast, where he spent his early childhood. At the time of Brendan's birth, Joseph Lyons was

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the House of Assembly is invited by the governor of Ta ...

. He entered federal politics in 1929 and became Prime Minister of Australia in 1932, but died in office in 1939. Brendan and the younger children moved into The Lodge with their parents, while the older children were sent to boarding schools. The house was too small for the entire family, so he had to sleep on an enclosed verandah. He later recalled his playtime being interrupted by buses of tourists arriving to view the house; there were no security guards at the time. Lyons was educated firstly at the

Sisters of the Good Samaritan The Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, colloquially known as the "Good Sams", is a Roman Catholic congregation of religious women commenced by Bede Polding, OSB, Australia’s first Catholic bishop, in Sydney in 1857. The congreg ...

school in Canberra, then at

St Patrick's College, Goulburn (If you do something, do it well) , status = Closed , established = , closed = 2000 (merged into Trinity Catholic College, Goulburn) , city = Goulburn , state = New South Wales , country = Australia , campus = , coor ...

, and finally Xavier College, Melbourne.

Sporting career

Lyons played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

at a high level. He represented Tasmania at the 1948 Australian Amateur Football Carnival in Western Australia, playing as a full-forward. He was "known to smoke cigarettes during games while standing in the goal square". Lyons also had an exceptionally long

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

career. He retired from club cricket at the age of 75, after 53 years and 822 games with the Old Launcestonians Cricket Club. He helped organise the cricket competition at the

Australian Masters Games The Australian Masters Games is a biennial sporting event and the largest multi-sport participation sporting event in Australia. Garry Daly as President of the Confederation of Australian Sport proposed the concept of Masters Games to the Northern ...

. As a schoolboy at Xavier College he was coached by

Arthur Liddicut Arthur Edward Liddicut (17 October 1891 – 8 April 1983) was an Australian cricketer. He played first-class cricket for Victoria between 1912 and 1933. A lower-middle-order batsman and fast-medium bowler, Liddicut toured New Zealand with a ...

and once clean bowled future Test player Colin McDonald, who was batting for Scotch College.

Politics

Lyons was the founding secretary of the

University of Tasmania Liberal Club The University of Tasmania Liberal Club (TULC) is a politically affiliated club based at the University of Tasmania. The club is closely tied with the Liberal Party of Australia and at times through its history has been a constitutional branch of ...

. He assisted his mother and brothers Desmond and

on their political campaigns. At the 1982 state election, Lyons was elected to the

running for the

in the

Division of Bass The Division of Bass is an Australian electoral division in Tasmania. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian ...

. His election came 73 years after his father was first elected to the same body. In 1984, he was appointed as a government minister under Premier Robin Gray. He held a variety of portfolios until his defeat at the 1986 election, including housing, small business, consumer affairs, state development (minister assisting), sport and recreation, and inland fisheries. In 2008 Lyons published ''They Loved Him to Death'', a biography of his father. He died in September 2010, aged 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Brendan 1927 births 2010 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Politicians from Hobart Australian cricketers Children of prime ministers of Australia People educated at Xavier College