John Grant (1857 – 19 May 1928) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

-born

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n politician. He was married to the politician Mary Anne Grant.

Life

Born in

Abernethy Abernethy may refer to: Places Scotland * Abernethy, Perth and Kinross, a village ** Abernethy (NBR) railway station, a former railway station in this village * Nethy Bridge, Highland, a village formerly known as Abernethy * Abernethy Forest, ...

, he received a primary education before becoming a

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

. Migrating to the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

in 1880, he became Secretary of the Stonemasons' Union and a founding member of the

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 ...

Labor Party. He served as the NSW ALP's General Secretary. He married Scottish born Mary Anne Grant (born Kearney) and she was one of the six women elected to the

New South Wales Labor Party The New South Wales Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) and commonly referred to simply as NSW Labor, is the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party. The parliamentary leader is elect ...

's executive in January 1906. The other five were

Kate Dwyer Catherine Winifred "Kate" Dwyer (; 13 June 1861 – 3 February 1949) was an Australian educator, suffragist, and labour activist. Life Dwyer née Golding was born at Tambaroora, Wellington County, New South Wales to Joseph Golding (died 18 ...

Harriet Powell Harriet(t) may refer to: * Harriet (name), a female name ''(includes list of people with the name)'' Places * Harriet, Queensland, rural locality in Australia * Harriet, Arkansas, unincorporated community in the United States * Harriett, Texas, ...

, the 1903 parliamentary candidate

Selina Siggins Selina Sarah Elizabeth Siggins (née Charters, previously Anderson; 12 May 1878 – 30 November 1964) was an Australian political activist who became the first woman to stand for the Australian House of Representatives. She ran as an independent ...

, the American born A. E. Gardiner,

Edith Bethel Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and vari ...

and

Maggie Hall Maggie Hall (December 26, 1853 January 17, 1888) was a prostitute and brothel madam in the early history of Murray, Idaho, originally from Dublin, Ireland. In local lore she is known as a "Hooker with a heart of gold, Prostitute with a heart of g ...

. He and Mary had one child, Frank. He was elected to the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

in 1914 as a Labor Senator from New South Wales. Defeated in 1919, he returned to the Senate in 1922, holding the seat until his death in 1928.

References

Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Members of the Australian Senate 1857 births 1928 deaths Australian trade unionists Australian stonemasons 20th-century Australian politicians British emigrants to the Colony of New South Wales {{Australia-Labor-senator-stub