Hon. Patrick Perkins, J. P., (10 October 1838 — 17 May 1901), nicknamed Paddy Perkins, was a brewer and politician in colonial

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

. He was a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivis ...

and, later, a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Council Following are lists of members of the Queensland Legislative Council The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May ...

Early life

Patrick Perkins was born in a humble cottage on a small farm in the village of Clonoulty near

Cashel, County Tipperary Cashel (; ) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,422 in the 2016 census. The town gives its name to the ecclesiastical province of ''Cashel''. Additionally, the ''cathedra'' of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel ...

, Ireland. He was the second son of Thomas Perkins, a farmer, and his wife Ellen (''née'' Gooley). He attended the local National School. Thomas and Ellen Perkins and their eight children (including Patrick) immigrated on the ''Persian'', departing

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and arrived in

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 ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia on 9 April 1854. In 1861, he married Mary Ellen Hickey in Victoria. They had four children born in Victoria:Thomas Hector (born 1864); Mary Eveleen, (1867-1942) m. Charles Seymour-Allan; Edgar Colin Francis (born 1868) and Lilly Eleanor Perkins (born 1875) m. Randall Macdonnell, m. George Wilkie Gray. They had two children born in Queensland: Patrick Harold (born 1878) and Helene Cicilia (born 1880, Toowoomba d 1965 Adelaide), Sr Margaret Mary of the Dominican priory, Adelaide.

Business

Patrick Perkins was a miner and storekeeper on the diggings in Victoria in districts including Ballarat, Bendigo,

Woods Point Woods Point is a small town in Victoria, Australia and is located on the banks of the Goulburn River. At the , Woods Point and the surrounding area had a population of 37, down from 94 in 2006. History The town began as a general store built b ...

and Jamieson. With his brother Thomas, he started breweries in Victoria and Queensland. In 1866, Patrick Perkins started the Perkins Brewery in Toowoomba. In 1872, he later extended his operations to Brisbane with the purchase of the City Brewery in 1872. In 1876, Patrick Perkins moved to Queensland in order to manage the Brisbane and Toowoomba breweries. Perkins also had interests in property and mining, including the

Mount Morgan Mine Mount Morgan Mine was a copper, gold and silver mine in Queensland, Australia. Mining began at Mount Morgan in 1882 and continued until 1981. Over its lifespan, the mine yielded approximately of gold, of silver and of copper. The mine was ...

and coal mining in the

West Moreton West Moreton is a region of the Australian state of Queensland, consisting of the entire rural western portion of South East Queensland. It sits inland from both the Brisbane metropolitan area and the Gold Coast and to the east of the Darling Do ...

area. He was considered a shrewd and successful business man.

Politics

On 9 April 1877, Edward Wilmot Pechey, the member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

in the seat of Aubigny, resigned. On 1 May 1877, in a by-election, Perkins was elected in Aubigny, defeating Angus Mackay (the then editor of ''

The Queenslander ''The Queenslander'' was the weekly summary and literary edition of the '' Brisbane Courier'', the leading journal in the colony—and later, federal state—of Queensland since the 1850s. ''The Queenslander'' was launched by the Brisbane New ...

'') by a large majority. He was elected again in Aubigny in the 1878 election and was appointed as Minister of Lands in the First McIlwraith Ministry from 21 January 1879 to 13 November 1883. Perkins was elected again in Aubigny in the 1883 election, However, allegations about electoral fraud (including intimidation, bribery, and ballot stuffing) in the Aubigny election started to surface, resulting in a petition to the

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial func ...

detailing numerous kind of electoral fraud and asking to declare that the Aubigny election was void and that Patrick Perkins was guilty of bribery and corruption. On 21 February 1884, the Committee of Elections and Qualifications ruled the Aubigny election was null and void and called for a by-election. Perkins had denied any involvement in the alleged electoral fraud and the Committee of Elections and Qualifications did not disqualify him from re-contesting the seat, which provoked outrage in some quarters. However, Patrick Perkins announced he would not re-contest the seat as he would be taking a trip to England.

James Campbell James Campbell may refer to: Academics * James Archibald Campbell (1862–1934), founder of Campbell University in North Carolina * James Marshall Campbell (1895–1977), dean of the college of arts and sciences at the Catholic University of Americ ...

was elected unopposed at the resulting by-election on 4 March 1884. At the 1888 election, Perkins was elected in the seat of Cambooya on 10 May 1888, which he held until 6 May 1893. On 23 May 1893, Perkins was appointed to

Queensland Legislative Council The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May 1860. It was abolished by the Constitution Amendment Act 1921, which to ...

from 23 May 1893. Being a lifetime appointment, he served until his death on 17 May 1901.

The house "Aubigny"

Wedding guests of Miss Perkins and Mr Randall McDonnell in the grounds of Aubigny, at North Quay, Brisbane, 1897

In 1883 used his wealth to buy a palatial home at 273 North Quay, Brisbane, which he called "Aubigny" after the electorate that first sent him to parliament. The house was originally built in 1870 by Samuel Davis, a Jewish businessman, and included a separate building used as Brisbane's first synagogue. Patrick Perkins used the former synagogue as a billiards room. In 1899, the Perkins family rented the property to the Criminal Investigation Department which used the house as offices and the synagogue as a photography room. In 1906, the house was sold to the Rev. Mother Patrick of the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

to create the 20-bed Mater Misericordiae Hospital (now a tertiary hospital located at

South Brisbane South Brisbane is an inner southern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 7,196 people. Geography The suburb is on the southern bank of the Brisba ...

); the former synagogue being the hospital chapel. Once the hospital outgrew the house and relocated to the South Brisbane area where it still operates, the house was renamed "Loretto" and used as a hostel for Catholic girls; the former synagogue being the maids' quarters. In about 1939 the house was demolished to make way for the construction of a church for the Church of Christ, Scientist.

Later life

He attended the opening of the first Federal Parliament at the

Royal Exhibition Building The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage-listed building in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1879–1880 as part of the international exhibition movement, which presented over 50 exhibitions between 1851 and 1915 around the glo ...

on 9 May 1901 and caught a chill which developed into

bronchial pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity of ...

, from which he died on Friday 17 May 1901 at "Ingleborough", Berkeley Street, Hawthorn. On Saturday 18 May 1901, his funeral was conducted at the Roman Catholic church at Glenferrie, after which he was buried in the Boroondara General Cemetery in

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

, Melbourne. In 1928, the Perkins brewing company was bought by their rivals Castlemaine Brewery with new company being known as

Castlemaine Perkins Castlemaine Perkins is a brewery at 185 Milton Road, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a wholly owned entity of the Japanese-controlled Lion company. Operations began in 1878 and continue today. Castlemaine Perkins is the home of ...

Limited.

References