John Fitzgerald Burns (1833 – 19 March 1911) was an Australian politician, member of the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Eac ...

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a Ministry (government department), ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having ...

in the 1870s and

Colonial Treasurer Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

in the 1880s. Burns was born in the north of Ireland, and emigrated to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

at an early age. In 1854 he married Lucy Maria Smith at

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

. Having engaged in mercantile pursuits in the Hunter River district, Burns was elected to the Legislative Assembly for

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

at a by-election in 1861, holding the seat until his defeat in the 1869 election. He was unsuccessful at the 1870 Goldfields North by-election, but was elected for Hunter in the 1872 election. He was

in the third Robertson ministry from February 1875 to March 1877 and in the

Farnell ministry The Farnell ministry was the eighteenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by James Farnell. Farnell was first elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1860. The eighth parliament had been a challenging enviro ...

from December 1877 to December 1878. He introduced postal cards into Australia in 1875, and was the first to give employment to women in the telegraph department. In 1878 he arranged with the Governments of the other Australian colonies and New Zealand for the duplication of the submarine cable to Australia. Burns was

in the fifth Robertson ministry from December 1885 to February 1886. In January 1887 Burns was appointed Colonial Treasurer in the fourth ministry of Sir

Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has ...

, serving until January 1889. On 21 January 1887 his seat in the Legislative Assembly was declared vacant because of his acceptance of the position of Treasurer and he was summoned to the Legislative Council for the purpose of taking charge of the supply bill as the Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council. He took his seat in the council which passed the supply bill. A general election was called and Burns resigned from the council to re-contest the Hunter. 1887 was the first election in which political parties emerged. Burns, as a member of the Parkes government, stood as a

Free Trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

candidate and was re-elected unopposed at the 1887 election for The Hunter. He held the seat until 1889. Burns switched to

St Leonards St Leonards may refer to: Places Australia *St Leonards, New South Wales **St Leonards railway station *St Leonards, Tasmania, suburb of Launceston *St Leonards, Victoria Canada *St. Leonard's, Newfoundland and Labrador New Zealand * St L ...

for the 1889 election when it was expanded to return 3 members, and was the third member elected. He was narrowly defeated in the 1891 election. In the 1894 election for Willoughby he stood as an

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free trade candidate, but was unsuccessful, receiving only 86 votes (4.53%). He was gazetted a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1887, but declined the honour, and the appointment was cancelled. Burns died in

Paddington, New South Wales Paddington is an upscale inner-city area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Located east of the Sydney central business district, Paddington lies across two local government areas. The portion south of Oxford Street lies wi ...

on 19 March 1911 (aged 78). He is buried in

Waverley Cemetery The Waverley Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, 1878) and P. Beddie (cemetery office, 1915 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, John Fitzgerald 1833 births 1911 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Treasurers of New South Wales Burials at Waverley Cemetery