Frank Farnell (10 September 1861 – 16 July 1929) was 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 ...

representing Central Cumberland and

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

for the

Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states, was an Australian political party, formally organised in 1887 in New South Wales, ...

Early life

Farnell 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

, the son of

James Farnell James Squire Farnell (25 June 1825 – 21 August 1888) was an Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales. Farnell was a hard-working legislator who gave much study to the land question and also tried hard for some years to pass a bill ...

, a NSW politician who would briefly become

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

from December 1877 until December 1878. He was educated at

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

Career

He worked as a clerk for commercial merchants before joining the railway department in 1880. Farnell then went into business selling tea, wine and spirits in the firm Allen, Bowden & Farnell.

Parliament

In 1885 Farnell followed his father into politics, unsuccessfully standing for Central Cumberland at the 1885 election. He was successful on his second attempt at the 1887 election. and again at the 1889 election. In 1889 he was forced to resign due to financial difficulties, but was re-elected unopposed at the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, holding the seat in 1891 election. The four member district of Central Cumberland was abolished in 1894 and Farnell was elected for Ryde, holding the seat until defeated at the 1898 election. Farnell regained the seat at the 1901 election. He resigned in December 1903 to accept the position of chairman of the Fisheries Board. Farnell was unsuccessful at three further attempts at parliament, Bondi (1913), Drummoyne (1916), and North Shore (1920). He declined an appointment to the Legislative Council in 1917.

Death

Farnell died in North Sydney on .

References

1861 births 1929 deaths Australian people of Romani descent People educated at Newington College Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Colony of New South Wales people {{Australia-politician-stub