John Charles Lucas Fitzpatrick (15 February 1862 – 7 August 1932) was an Australian politician and journalist.

Early life

Fitzpatrick was born in

Moama Moama ( or ) is a town in the Riverina district of southern New South Wales, Australia, in the Murray River Council local government area. The town is directly across the Murray River from the larger town of Echuca in the neighbouring state ...

in the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

region of

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 ...

, but his family moved to

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

in 1869. He was educated at a catholic school and he was apprenticed to the former ''Australian'' newspaper's Windsor office at 14. He was a compositor on the former ''

Melbourne Punch ''Melbourne Punch'' (from 1900, simply titled ''Punch'') was an Australian illustrated magazine founded by Edgar Ray and Frederick Sinnett, and published from August 1855 to December 1925. The magazine was modelled closely on ''Punch'' of Londo ...

'' at 18 and subsequently worked on papers in

Gunnedah Gunnedah is a town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 9,726. Gunnedah is situated within the Liverpool Plains, a fertile agricultur ...

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highway. At ...

Walgett Walgett is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, and the seat of Walgett Shire. It is near the junctions of the Barwon and Namoi Rivers and the Kamilaroi and Castlereagh Highways. In 2016, Walgett had a population of 2,145. In the 2 ...

and

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

and

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

. In January 1886 he married Agnes Clare Kelly. In about 1888, he established the

Windsor and Richmond Gazette ''Windsor and Richmond Gazette'', later published as the ''Hawkesbury Gazette'', was a weekly English language compact format newspaper published in Windsor, New South Wales, Australia. History First published on 11 July 1888 by John Charles ...

and in 1905 he bought the ''

Molong Molong is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, in Cabonne Shire. History The name Molong comes from the Aboriginal word for 'all rocks'. William Lee of Kelso is said to have had cattle in the area by 1819. ...

Argus'', which he sold in 1907.

Political career

Fitzpatrick was elected as the member for Rylstone in 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 ...

at the election in July 1895, representing the

Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states, was an Australian political party, formally organised in 1887 in New South Wales, ...

. While the election was found to be invalid, he won the subsequent by-election in October 1895. He held the seat until 1904, when he stood unsuccessfully for

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

at the election in August 1904. He was the

Anti-Socialist Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states, was an Australian political party, formally organised in 1887 in New South Wales, ...

candidate for the Federal seat of Calare at the 1906 election, but was unsuccessful. In 1907, he won the state seat of

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 * ...

as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

and held it until 1930, except for the period of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

between 1920 and 1927, when he was one of the members for Bathurst. He joined

Holman Holman may refer to: People * Holman (surname), including people with the name * Holman (given name), a list of people with the name Places United States * Holman, Missouri, a former town * Holman, Texas, a settlement * Holman, Washington, a s ...

's Nationalist government as

Secretary for Mines The position of Secretary for Mines is a now defunct office in the United Kingdom Government, associated with the Board of Trade. In 1929, the department took over responsibility for petroleum. In 1940, the department was divided with Geoffrey ...

from November 1916 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 ...

from October 1918 until its defeat by John Storey Labor Party in April 1920. He was Secretary for Mines and Minister for Local Government on 20 December 1921 in George Fuller's seven-hour government and again between 1922 and 1925. Fitzpatrick retired from politics in 1930. Fitzpatrick died in the Sydney suburb of

Roseville, New South Wales Roseville is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Ku-ring-gai and Willoughby. Roseville Chase is a separate ...

on , survived by a son and daughter.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, John Charles Lucas Free Trade Party politicians Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian journalists 1862 births 1932 deaths Treasurers of New South Wales