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

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

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 la ...

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

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the South Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament House in the st ...

. 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 lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

at the 1917 Victorian election, serving as the Nationalist Party member for

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington * Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport * Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United Ki ...

from 1917 to 1924. Ryan was born in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

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 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