Patrick Stone (14 March 1854 – 23 December 1926) was a Member of the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

from 1901 to 1904, and from 1905 to 1908. Born in

Buncrana Buncrana ( ; ) is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is beside Lough Swilly on the Inishowen peninsula, northwest of Derry and north of Letterkenny. In the 2016 census, the population was 6,785 making it the second most populous town in C ...

Inishowen Inishowen () is a peninsula in the north of County Donegal in Ireland. Inishowen is the largest peninsula on the island of Ireland. The Inishowen peninsula includes Ireland's most northerly point, Malin Head. The Grianan of Aileach, a ringfort ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

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, on 14 March 1854, Patrick Stone was the eldest son of army private James Stone and Ann Dorothy née Doherty. His father had served in the British Army in India and Afghanistan and after being wounded there had been invalided back to Britain where he married. When the British government agreed to transport convicts to Western Australia, James elected to become part of the Enrolled

Pensioner Guard The Pensioner Guards were English military personnel who served on convict transportation ships en route to the Swan River Colony between 1850 and 1868, and were given employment and grants of land on arrival. Their initial employment lasted for ...

, guarding the convicts on their voyage to Western Australia. Patrick traveled with his parents and younger brother James on board the convict transport ''William Hammond'', arriving in Western Australia in April 1856. The Stone's lived in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

where his father was based until the 1860s when they moved to Greenough where his father had been granted land. Patrick received a brief education at the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

school at Fremantle, before working for his father on the Greenough farm until around 1880. On 8 February 1880, Stone married Helen Emily Roe, daughter of

James Elphinstone Roe James Elphinstone Roe (c. 18 October 1818 – May 1897) was a convict transported to Western Australia. After serving his sentence he became one of the colony's ex-convict school teachers. Through his agitation for education reform, he played a ...

. He then set himself up as a storekeeper and produce merchant, becoming the town's most prominent and successful merchant over a long period. He also became owner of the Commonwealth Hotel, and was a director of the Geraldton Co-op. Milling Society. Stone was a member of the Greenough Road Board in 1878 and 1879, and between 1888 and 1916 he was a member of the Geraldton Municipal Council in a series of broken stints totalling around 13 years. On 19 June 1894 he contested the

seat of Geraldton but was unsuccessful. He contested the seat again in the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

of 24 July 1900, but again without success. On 24 April 1901, he won the seat of Greenough, holding it until the election of 28 June 1904, when he was defeated by

John Nanson John Leighton Nanson (22 September 1863 – 29 February 1916) was a journalist and politician in Western Australia. A former writer and sub-editor with ''The West Australian'', he served in the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 190 ...

. The following year Nanson resigned the seat to study law in

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, and Stone won the seat for a second time on 27 October 1905. This time he held it until the election of 11 September 1908, when he was again defeated by Nanson, who had returned to Western Australia that year. Stone continued to contest elections for the rest of his life, contesting a further six elections without success. In 1910 he contested for a Central Province seat in the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

. The following year he contested Geraldton. He contested Central Province in 1914 and 1920, before contesting for a seat in 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 1922. In May 1926 he contested for a Central Province seat for a fourth time. He died six months later on 23 December 1926, and was buried in Geraldton Cemetery.

References

External links

* Contains transcripts of contemporary newspaper articles and letters about or by Stone, and extracts from books that mention him. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Patrick 1857 births 1926 deaths Western Australian local councillors Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Buncrana Politicians from County Donegal Pensioner Guards