John Thomas Toohey (26 April 1839 – 5 May 1903) was an Irish-born Australian brewer and politician. He was born in

Moneygall Moneygall () is a small village on the border of counties Offaly and Tipperary, in Ireland. It is situated on the R445 road between Dublin and Limerick. There were 313 people living in the village as of the 2016 census. Moneygall has a Catholic ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

to businessman Matthew Toohey and Honora Hall. His family migrated to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1841, where his father was involved in unsuccessful business dealings that eventually forced them to move to

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in 1866. Toohey settled near Lismore, and around 1869 established a cordial factory. The following year he and his brother

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

began brewing at the Metropolitan Brewery; this would eventually lead to

Tooheys Brewery Tooheys is a brewery in the suburb of Lidcombe, in Sydney, Australia. It produces beers and ciders under the ''Tooheys'' and ''Hahn Brewery'' trademarks, and is part of the Lion beverages group which was acquired by the Japanese Kirin Company in ...

, which the brothers ran. On 26 August 1871 Toohey married Sarah Doheny, with whom he had five children; he would later marry Annie Mary Murphy Egan, a widow, in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. In 1892 he was appointed to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

, where he was known as a supporter of

Irish nationalism Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

and as a prominent Catholic. In 1902 he embarked on a world tour, but he died in

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the following year.

References

1839 births 1903 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Irish emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century Australian businesspeople Australian brewers Australian company founders {{Australia-politician-stub