Thomas Ryan (9 January 1870 – 22 November 1943) was a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

worker, estate agent, trade unionist and politician. He served as the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member for Torrens (1909–1912) and Sturt (1915–1917) in the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assem ...

. He left the Labor Party in the 1917 Labor split, and served as a National Party member for several months before resigning his South Australian seat upon his election to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

at the 1917 Victorian election, serving as the Nationalist Party member for Essendon from 1917 to 1924. Ryan was born in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

arrived in Australia about 1890. He was orphaned at about the age of nine while living in South Africa; little is known of his early life. Ryan died at the Hotel Australia in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

at the age of 73 and was survived by two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Thomas 1870 births 1943 deaths Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Trade unionists from Melbourne Irish emigrants to Australia Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia