Frank Tenison Brennan (6 December 1884 – 6 August 1949) was a Labor Party politician, lawyer and Supreme Court judge. He was a Queensland MLA from 1918 to 1925.

History

Born in Maryborough the son of Martin Brennan and educated at the Christian Brothers' College there, served his articles at

Warwick, Queensland Warwick ( ) is a town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in southeast Queensland, Australia, lying south-west of Brisbane. It is the administrative centre of the Southern Downs Region Local government in Australia, local governme ...

, with his brother E. J. Brennan, and qualified in 1912, heading the list of that year. He practised as a solicitor in

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

from 1912 to 1918. He was active in the anti-conscription campaign. He was elected to the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

for

in 1923, defeating James Tolmie. He was appointed Minister in Charge of Health and Local Authorities, and the following year, Education Minister. The same year he was admitted to the Bar, and in 1925 he was elevated to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

and retired from parliament.

The bribery case

On 14 August 1922, two men, Sleeman and Connolly, were arrested for having attempted to bribe Mr Brennan. It was established at their trial that the object was to induce Mr Brennan to cross the House to bring down the Government. It was stated that he was offered £3500. The men were trapped at Mr Brennan's house, where holes had been bored in the walls to allow detectives and shorthand writers to obtain a complete record of their conversation. They were sentenced to three months' imprisonment, and fined £500 each.

Supreme Court

In 1925 he was elevated to the Supreme Court Bench on the retirement of Mr. Justice Shand; from 1925 until 1947 he was stationed in Central Queensland, and for his last two years in Brisbane.

Last days

Mr. Justice Brennan died in the Mater Private Hospital, Brisbane, where he had been admitted several weeks previously, suffering from heart trouble. He was honoured by a State funeral and buried at

Nudgee Cemetery Nudgee Cemetery & Crematorium is a large Roman Catholic cemetery at 493 St Vincents Road, Nudgee, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The cemetery opened in 1867 and is still operating. Over 31,000 people are buried there. Services The cemetery ...

.Brennan, Frank Tenison (1884–1949)
—

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

. Retrieved 19 December 2014.

Family

Frank Brennan married Hanna Maria Gertrude Koenig, on 19 July 1922. Gertrude was a daughter of prominent Brisbane citizen Albert Koenig, a

German Australian German Australians (german: link=no, Deutsch-Australier) are Australians with German ancestry. German Australians constitute one of the largest ancestry groups in Australia, and German is the fifth most identified European ancestry in Australia ...

. Mr. Justice Brennan left a wife, son

Gerard Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...

, who was studying law, and daughters Anne (his associate) and Mary.

References

Further references

Malcolm Cope, 'Brennan, Frank Tenison (1884–1949)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/brennan-frank-tenison-5348/text9043, accessed 24 May 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Frank Tenison Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Australian barristers Judges of the Supreme Court of Queensland Australian Roman Catholics 1884 births 1949 deaths Burials at Nudgee Cemetery Australian people of Irish descent Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians