Sir James O'Grady, (6 May 1866 – 10 December 1934) was a trade unionist and Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the first colonial governor appointed by the Labour Party from within its own ranks.

Early life

O'Grady was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

to Irish parents. His father was a labourer, and after leaving school at ten, O'Grady did various lowly jobs, before training as a

cabinet-maker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (so ...

, and became active in the

Amalgamated Union of Cabinetmakers {{Short description, UK trade union The Amalgamated Union of Cabinet Makers (AUCM) was a trade union representing workers in furniture manufacturing in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1833 as the Societies in the House Furnishing Dep ...

Political career

A member of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

and supported by the Labour Representation Committee, he was elected at the 1906 general election as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Leeds East Leeds East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Richard Burgon of the Labour Party. The constituency is notable for having been represented by Denis Healey who was the MP from 1955 to 1992. ...

. He had benefited from the Gladstone–MacDonald pact negotiated between

Herbert Gladstone Herbert John Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone, (7 January 1854 – 6 March 1930) was a British Liberal politician. The youngest son of William Ewart Gladstone, he was Home Secretary from 1905 to 1910 and Governor-General of the Union of South ...

and

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...

, and faced only a Unionist opponent, whom he defeated by a wide margin. O'Grady was re-elected at the elections in January 1910 and December 1910 elections, and when the Leeds East constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election, he was returned unopposed for the new Leeds South East constituency. He held that seat until he stepped down from

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the 1924 general election. In the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, he spoke frequently, particularly on

foreign affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

, and was noted as a strong supporter of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, speaking at recruitment rallies. He was also Labour's only

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

MP. Through his role in the Amalgamated Union of Cabinet Makers, he had been

President of the Trades Union Congress The President of the Trades Union Congress is a prominent but largely honorary position in British trade unionism. History Initially, the post of president was elected at the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) itself, and would serve just for the d ...

in 1898, and he continued his union activities whilst an MP. After a variety of posts in unions related to the furniture trades,There were many mergers of unions in that period, and craft- and area-based unions merged to form national, industry-based unions, and the union names listed in the available sources do not entirely correspond to the list of furniture unions at http://www.wcml.org.uk/tu/furnish.htm . he became general secretary of the National Federation of General Workers in 1918.

Governorships

In 1924,

's First Labour Government offered O'Grady the post of British Ambassador to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, and he accepted.Time Magazine, 24 February 1924
/ref> He was a logical choice because he had successfully negotiated an exchange of prisoners in 1919 and had been involved in international trade union-led efforts to relieve the Russian famine in 1921, but O'Grady did not in the end get the job, because the government postponed exchanging ambassadors. Instead O'Grady became

Governor of Tasmania The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the ...

from 1924 to 1930. The first Labour politician to be appointed as a colonial governor by a Labour government. His appointment was resisted by the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

, which wanted the job to go to an Australian. O'Grady was knighted as a

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

and moved to

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, taking office on 23 December.Australian States
/ref> His governorship was marked by conflicts with the Legislative Council (which urged to do more to promote economic development), and his governor's reports were outspoken, but he appears to have parted on good terms. O'Grady's next appointment was in 1931, as

Governor of the Falkland Islands The governor of the Falkland Islands is the representative of the British Crown in the Falkland Islands, acting "in His Majesty's name and on His Majesty's behalf" as the islands' ''de facto'' head of state in the absence of the British monarch ...

, but he retired in 1934 due to ill-health. He died later that year, aged 68.

Notes

References

*
Australian Dictionary of Biography online: O'Grady, Sir James (1866–1934)
*

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

: James O'Grady *

External links

Picture of O'Grady at the State Library of Victoria
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogrady, James 1866 births 1934 deaths Trade unionists from Bristol General secretaries of British trade unions Presidents of the General Federation of Trade Unions (UK) Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies British people of Irish descent UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 Governors of Tasmania Governors of the Falkland Islands Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George British Roman Catholics Presidents of the Trades Union Congress British cabinetmakers Politicians from Bristol