Broughton Barnabas O'Conor (1 November 1868 – 2 February 1953) was a politician and barrister in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia.

Early life

He was born at Broughton Creek near

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 ...

to John O'Conor and Anne Stuart Connolly. He attended public schools before matriculating at

Sydney Grammar School (Praise be to God) , established = , type = Independent, day school , gender = Boys , religious_affiliation = None , slogan = , headmaster = R. B. Malpass , founder = Laurence Hynes Halloran , chairman = ...

and then studying at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, receiving a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1892 and a

Bachelor of Law Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1895. He was called to the bar in 1895. On 25 April 1901, O'Conor married Icey Britania Johnson and they had two sons.

Political career

O'Conor was a candidate for 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 ...

for the district of Sherbrooke at the 1895 election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

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candidate, but was defeated with a margin of 252 votes (23.5%). 66% of the votes at Sherbrooke had been against the Constitution Bill in June 1898, however O'Conor stood as a

National Federal Party The Protectionist Party or Liberal Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. The party advocated protective tariffs, arguing it would allow Australi ...

in support of Federation at the election in July 1898 and was narrowly elected with a margin of 21 votes (1.7%). He did not join the

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for the 1901 election, standing as independent at the 1901 election winning with an increased margin. He joined the Liberal Reform Party for the 1904 election. The party won the election and O'Connor was appointed Minister of Public Instruction and Minister for Labour and Industry in the

Carruthers ministry The Carruthers ministry was the 32nd ministry of the New South Wales Government, and was led by the 16th Premier of New South Wales, Premier, Joseph Carruthers. The title of Premier was widely used to refer to the Leader of Government, but was n ...

. O'Conor resigned from the ministry in May 1907. He retired at the 1907 state election, and in July 1908 was appointed to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

, where he served as a Liberal,

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

and

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

member. The council was reformed in 1934 with members being elected, not directly by the people, but by a joint sitting of the

New South Wales Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Each ...

with members elected in four groups of 15 members and O'Conor was elected in the third group for a term ending in 1940. He did not stand for re-election, and retired in 1940.

Later life and death

He continued to practice as a barrister until 1930 and he was a director of various companies. He died at

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. I ...

on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconor, Broughton 1868 births 1953 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Chairman of Committees of the New South Wales Legislative Council