Captain Samuel Toombs JP (26 March 1871 – 17 November 1949) was a seaman and an

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, elected as a member of 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 ...

representing the seat of

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges Riv ...

. He was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

as where he spent his childhood and school years. Samuel followed his father, Samuel Toombs Senior, with service in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in England. Samuel Jr. migrated to Australia, arriving in New South Wales in 1891. He continued his military career with the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

, where he attained the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Toombs married Mary Jane Gorman in 1895 and together they had 2 daughters and 3 sons. Toombs remarried Agnes Claire Donohue in 1944. Toombs died at the age of 78 at

Lansvale Lansvale is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 28 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, the other side of Chipping Norton and its lake, in the Local government in Australia, local government ...

, a suburb of

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 ...

. A strong workers advocate, Toombs assisted to found Merchant Service Guild (a precursor to the Australian Maritime Officers

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

Political career

Toombs was a longtime member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

, including service as a member of the central executive from 1914 - 1916. As a Labor candidate he represented Hurstville in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1913 to 1917, during the difficult environment of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the War he served as secretary of Radio Telegraphers' Union in 1922.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toombs, Sam Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1871 births 1949 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Military personnel from Plymouth, Devon English emigrants to colonial Australia Politicians from Sydney