Brian McGowan (23 September 1935 – 8 March 1994) was an Australian politician who was elected as a member of 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 ...

. Brian McGowan was born in the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

suburb of

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, at high. The district, which ...

. He left school at 14 and worked as an office boy, telephone technician, tram conductor, and professional fireman. After training at

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

Teachers College, McGowan worked at

Tocumwal Tocumwal ( ) is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Berrigan Shire local government area, near the Victorian border. The town is situated on the banks of the Murray River, north of the city of Melbourne. ...

Primary School, Shepardstown Small School in 1961,

Nowra Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated population of 22,584. Situated in th ...

High School, and was promoted to The Entrance High School to take up the position of English and History Master. His political career began when he joined the Labor Party in 1968. He was elected President of the Nowra-Bomaderry Branch in 1971, and stood in the State election for

Gosford Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extre ...

in 1973. Though defeated in that year, McGowan gained election in 1976 by a mere 74 votes, and held the seat of Gosford until 1988. While in Parliament he was concerned with social and educational issues. Upon his defeat in the 1988 election he entered Gosford Council where he served one and half years. His wife Margaret stood for the seat at the by-election and served the remainder of Brian's term, and was re-elected for a second term. Following McGowan's death from cancer, a condolence motion was moved in the New South Wales Parliament on 10 March 1994. A bridge linking Gosford to

West Gosford West Gosford is a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the local government area. West Gosford is home to the Henry Kendall cottage and was home to the Gosford Classic Car Museum prior to its 2019 cl ...

was named in honour of Brian McGowan on 10 December 1995 and carries the

Central Coast Highway Central Coast Highway is a highway through the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It connects Pacific Motorway ( M1) at Kariong with Pacific Highway (A43) at Doyalson. The highway was named after the region it goes through ...

. Brian McGowan Bridge
at parliament.nsw.gov.au He married Margaret Jackson in 1958; they had one son, Stewart, and two daughters Megan and Meredith.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGowan, Brian 1935 births 1994 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Central Coast (New South Wales) Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians