Francis Connor (1857 – 24 August 1916) was an Australian businessman, pastoralist, and politician who served in both houses of the

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislative ...

, as a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1893 to 1905 and as a member of the Legislative Council from 1906 until his death.

Early life

Connor was born in

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of an ...

, Ireland. He arrived in Sydney, Australia, in 1885, and from there went to Wyndham, a small town in Western Australia's Kimberley region. In Wyndham, Connor went into partnership with a schoolmate from Ireland,

Denis Doherty Denis Joseph Doherty (1861 – 23 October 1935) was an Australian businessman, pastoralist and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1897 to 1903, representing the seat of North Fremantle. D ...

, who eventually also entered parliament. Their firm initially supplied goods to the Kimberley goldfields. They later went into the live cattle trade, acquiring two pastoral leases in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

( Newry Station and

Auvergne Station Auvergne Station often just referred to as Auvergne is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. Location It is located about west of Timber Creek and east of Kununurra, in the Northern Terr ...

). In 1897, Connor and Doherty merged their business with that of

Michael Durack Michael Patrick Durack, (22 July 1865 – 3 September 1950) was a pastoralist and Western Australian pioneer, known as "M.P." or to the family as "Miguel". He was the son of Patrick Durack and Mary Costello, both Irish-Australians. Life and c ...

, forming Connor, Doherty & Durack.Francis Connor
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 8 June 2016.

Politics

In 1893, Connor was elected to parliament at a by-election for the seat of East Kimberley, caused by the death of the sitting member, William Baker. He held East Kimberley until it was abolished at the 1904 state election, and thereafter transferred to the seat of Kimberley. Later in 1904, Connor was one of four independents to announce their support for the Labor Party, allowing

Henry Daglish Henry Daglish (18 November 1866 – 16 August 1920) was an Australian politician who was the sixth premier of Western Australia and the first from the Labor Party, serving from 10 August 1904 to 25 August 1905. Daglish was born in Ballarat, V ...

to form a minority government (and become the first

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...

from the Labor Party). The Labor government fell after just over a year, and Connor was defeated in his seat at the 1905 state election by

Arthur Male Arthur Male (2 March 1870 – 20 January 1946) was an Australian businessman and politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1905 to 1917, representing the seat of Kimberley. He was a minister in the first ...

. He re-entered parliament in June 1906, winning election to the Legislative Council's North Province, and was re-elected to a second six-year term in 1912.

Death

Connor died in office in August 1916 (aged 59). The circumstances of his death were highly unusual, and prompted a coronial inquest. While at his property in Benger, Connor organised to go on a kangaroo hunt with his wife and a friend (a Catholic priest). While loading a gun in his office, the weapon went off, shattering Connor's skull and killing him instantaneously. It was thought that his wife (the only witness) had startled him by opening the office door, and the death was found to be purely accidental. His wife was the sole beneficiary of his will."MR. CONNOR'S WILL"
'' The Daily News'' (Perth), 14 September 1916.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connor, Francis 1857 births 1916 deaths Accidental deaths in Western Australia Australian pastoralists Deaths by firearm in Western Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People from Newry 19th-century Australian businesspeople Hunting accident deaths Firearm accident victims Colony of Western Australia people

Early life

Politics

Death

See also

References