James Ryan (1863 – 21 June 1940) was an Irish-born Australian politician. He was born in Doon in

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

to farmers Patrick and Alice Ryan. He migrated to

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 ...

at a young age to join his uncle, who soon died, then went to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and finally

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 ...

around 1884. He was an assisted road superintendent around

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

and Lithgow before becoming a journalist with the ''Lithgow Mercury''. He married schoolteacher Margaret Redmond, with whom he had three children. He was managing editor of the ''Mercury'' from 1889 to 1926. From 1917 to 1940 he was a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

, first for the Nationalist Party and then for the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

. He was a minister without portfolio from 1927 to 1930, Vice-President of the Executive Council for a month in May–June 1932, and minister without portfolio again from 1932 to 1938. Ryan died in

Nowra Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated population of 22,584. Situated in th ...

in 1940.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, James 1863 births 1940 deaths Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales United Australia Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Irish emigrants to colonial Australia