John Thomas Crane (12 February 1868 – 6 August 1948) was an Australian politician.

Early life

Crane was born in

Warialda Warialda is a town in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, in Gwydir Shire. Situated on the banks of Warialda Creek, the town's name means "Place of Wild Honey" in local aboriginal language. At the , Warialda had a populati ...

to grazier John Crane and Elizabeth McGee. He attended Tamworth Grammar School and then the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, where he received a

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in 1887. In 1888 he began a stock and station agency at Moree. On 31 July 1891 he married Charlotte Mary Gall, with whom he would have six children. From 1894 he worked as a land agent in addition to his farming.

Civic work

He also served on Moree Council as

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in 1903, 1905, 1906, and 1908 to 1912. He was the first Clerk of the Boomi and Boolooroo shire Councils from 1906, retiring from the position in 1938. From its inception in about 1906 he acted as Secretary of the Moree Stock Board (later called the Moree Pastures Protection Board) until 1934, taking a keen interest in the affairs of the Shires and the Board even after his retirement.

Legislative Assembly

In 1913, with endorsement from the Liberal Reform Party and the

Farmers and Settlers Association The Farmers' and Settlers' Association of New South Wales was an umbrella organisation of farmers' and selectors' associations in New South Wales, founded in 1893. History The Association was formed in 1893 as the outcome of a conference held in Co ...

, he was elected to 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 ...

as the member for Gwydir. He was a minister without portfolio assisting the Secretary for Lands in the

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from February to April 1920, but he was defeated at the 1920 elections contesting the multi-member seat of Namoi.

Later life and death

Crane had been a director of Country Producers' Selling Company Ltd. since 1910 and would hold that position until his death. He was known as a racing enthusiast, winning many races in Sydney and country centres with his horses — Foundling, Felspar, Wanda, Cavalier, Alibi, Weemelah and Sealster. In conjunction with A. B. F. Zlotkowski, G. Wigg and A. James, he was one of the initial promoters of football in Moree and remained interested in the activities of the football clubs in town. He was also president of the Moree Bowling Club for one term. He died in Moree on . Mary Gall had predeceased him, as had 2 daughters (Eileen and Laura) and a son (Charles). He was survived by 3 sons (Norton, Alan and Harold).

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the

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: {{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, John 1868 births 1948 deaths Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian stock and station agents Colony of New South Wales people