John Barnes Nicholson (1840 – 17 February 1919) was an English-born Australian politician. He was born at

Biglands Biglands is a hamlet in Cumbria, England. It is located to the north of Gamelsby, and east of the River Wampool. It is not the location of Milefortlet 1, the first milefortlet to the west of Hadrian's Wall, which is located on the coast overlook ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

to farmer John Nicholson and Mary Lightfoot. He worked as a coalminer from a young age, travelling widely to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

before settling in

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 ...

in 1882. He mined at

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and then at Bulli, and was a local secretary of the Miners' Union. In February 1891 he married Ellen Brodie in

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 ...

; they had four children. A foundation member of the Labour Party, he was one of the first group of Labour MLAs when 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 ...

for

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

in 1891. He refused to take the pledge in 1893 and was elected to

Woronora Woronora is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woronora is located 27 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire. Woronora Heights is a ...

as an independent Labor member in 1894. He was a Free Trader briefly around 1898, but in 1904 rejoined the Labor Party. He transferred to the seat of

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

in 1904 and held it until 1917, when he was defeated after defecting to the Nationalist Party in the 1916 conscription split. Nicholson died in

Woonona Woonona () is a northern suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney. It is served by Woonona Station on the South Coast (Illawarra) Line, and by the Princes Highway. The suburb has a strip of commerce along the highway ...

in 1919.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, John 1840 births 1919 deaths Free Trade Party politicians Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Independent members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales English emigrants to colonial Australia