Edward William O'Sullivan (17 March 1846 – 25 April 1910) was an Australian journalist and politician.
Early life and journalism
O'Sullivan was born in
Launceston, Tasmania. His father deserted the family when he was a child and he was mainly educated by his mother Mary Ann who was the daughter of Edward Burgoyne, a soldier of the 63rd regiment
orn Derry, Ireland c.1794by his wife Catherine Cruise. He started as a
printer's devil
A printer's devil was a young apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type. Notable writers including Ambrose Bierce, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain served ...
on the ''
Hobart Mercury
''The'' ''Mercury'' is a daily newspaper, published in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, by Davies Brothers Pty Ltd (DBL), a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of News Corp. The weekend issues of the paper are called ''Mercury ...
'' but, being bright and intelligent, graduated at the desk, and became, when still young, a reporter for that paper. In 1869 he went to
Sydney, but soon returned to Hobart and started a paper, the ''Tribune''. This had some success but selling out in 1873 O'Sullivan made for
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,working as a journalist. He was editor of the
St Arnaud ''Mercury'' for about three years. In 1878, he married Agnes Ann Firman and started working a
The Argus. In 1882, he went to Sydney and for about a year was overseer in the
''Daily Telegraph'' office.
O'Sullivan took a prominent part in union circles and became president of the New South Wales Typographical Association and became President of the
Trades and Labor Council for six months from March 1883. In 1884, he founded a working man's party the Democratic Alliance and its newspaper ''the Democrat'', but both failed. In 1884 O'Sullivan was part of a land reform conference, which included
Paddy Crick
William Patrick Crick (10 February 1862 – 23 August 1908) was an Australian politician, solicitor and newspaper proprietor. He was described by author Cyril Pearl as an irresistible demagogue, who "looked like a prize fighter, dressed like a ...
,
Louis Heydon and
Adolphus Taylor
Adolphus George Taylor (14 June 1857 – 18 January 1900) was an Australian journalist and populist politician, active in New South Wales the 1880s and 1890s.
Early life
Reputed the illegitimate son of a gentleman father, Taylor was born in Mudg ...
to "establish a political organisation of the agricultural, mining, and working classes of New South Wales, in order to initiate a more liberal and progressive policy for the colony", a protectionist party that became known as the Land and Industrial Alliance, which was for a time more successful.
[
In 1909 he became the third President of the New South Wales Rugby League in the year after incumbent secretary and founding father of the game Henry Hoyle resigned. Hoyle was replaced by ECV Broughton, however he stood down after just less than a month due to poor health. O'Sullivan resigned as a matter of principle, upon learning that a secret faction within the NSWRL had been plotting to pay the amateur Rugby Union Wallabies players to play games against the Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos.
]
Parliamentary career
He first stood for the legislative assembly for the district of West Sydney, at the 1882 election but was unsuccessful with a margin of 549 votes (3.9%). He stood again in 1885, this time for South Sydney but was again unsuccessful with a margin of 882 votes (6.1%). A week later he was elected for Queanbeyan, with the assistance of the Queanbeyan Age
''The Queanbeyan Age'' is a weekly newspaper based in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia. It has had a number of title changes throughout its publication history. First published on 15 September 1860 by John Gale and his brother, Peter F ...
, edited by his friend, John Gale and Louis Heydon, the member for Yass Plains.[ He held the seat until 1904.]
In September 1899, O'Sullivan became Secretary for Public Works in the Lyne ministry
__NOTOC__
The Lyne ministry was the 29th ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the 13th Premier, Sir William Lyne, KCMG.
Lyne was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1880 as member for Hume, serving in t ...
, and held the same position when John See
Sir John See (14 October 184431 January 1907) was a member of the New South Wales Legislature from 26 November 1880 to 15 June 1901, and was then Premier of New South Wales from 1901 to 1904.
See was a self-made man of strong character, ...
became Premier until June 1904. During his period of Works administration he spent £126,700 on roads and bridges out of revenue, and £1,341,341 out of loans on roads, harbours and rivers, and buildings. On water conservation works he spent £196,600, and on railways £2,964,400. On tramways he expended over half a million; on metropolitan water works another half-million. Country towns water supplies took £172,000, while a quarter of a million more went for sewerage and stormwater drainage. A further £40,000 odd was devoted to the Hunter water supply. Central railway station was described in his obituary as the chief monument to his genius, while '' The Bulletin'' was less complimentary, describing his sketch for it as having "all the salient features of the Colosseum, St Paul's, the Kremlin and a Yankee skyscraper".[
O'Sullivan held office for a few weeks in the Waddell ministry in 1904 as Secretary for Lands. He switched to Belmore from 1904 which he represented for six years.][ He was elected an alderman on the ]City of Sydney
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 ...
for Cook Ward in December 1906, serving until his death in April 1910. Of his later years, The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
said "He did good work, not only in the council, but on the health, finance, and works committees. He spoke seldom, but always to the point, and was regular in his attendance both at council and in committee. But it was not the O'Sullivan of 20, or even 10, years back. He was unobtrusive rather than assertive. He did not bring to the council the fiery enthusiasm of his earlier days. His step had become less firm, and he lacked the strong grip of affairs which had been his".
Death
O'Sullivan died at Mosman
Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...
of blood poisoning after a protracted illness. He was married, and left a widow, two sons and three daughters.[
]
Literary works
O'Sullivan had three melodramas produced: ''Cooee'' ''Eureka Stockade'' and ''Keane, of Kalgoorlie'' (filmed in 1911
A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole.
Events January
* January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...
). He published during the 1890s ''Esperanza: a Tale of Three Colonies'', and in 1906, ''Under the Southern Cross: Australian Sketches, Stories and Speeches''.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osullivan, Edward William
1846 births
1910 deaths
Australian journalists
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Argus (Melbourne) people
The Mercury (Hobart) people