Thomas Garrett (16 July 183025 November 1891) was 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 ...

, newspaper proprietor and land agent.

Early life

Garrett was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England to John Garrett and Sarah, and went to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

with his parents when nine years of age. A year later he was bound to the printing business, but during his apprenticeship he ran away, and became a cabin-boy on H.M.S. ''Fly'', then employed in resurveying the coast between Port Jackson and Hobson's Bay. The youth was soon sent back, and having finished his apprenticeship, he was engaged on a number of newspapers, subsequently being employed in the Government printing office, where he worked for three years. Mr. Garrett then turned his attention to journalism, and in 1855 established the ''

Illawarra Mercury The ''Illawarra Mercury'' is a daily newspaper serving the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It has been published since 1855, making it one of Australia's oldest newspapers and the second oldest regional newspaper in New South Wal ...

'', and afterwards also the ''Alpine Pioneer'' and the '' Manaro Mercury''.

Politics

His father entered Parliament in 1859 as the member for

Shoalhaven The City of Shoalhaven is a local government area in the south-eastern coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes through the area, and the South Coast railway line traverses ...

. In 1860 Thomas joined his father in Parliament, sitting for the Monaro constituency, acknowledged as the lieutenant of John Robertson. In 1964 he moved to his father's old seat of

which had been vacated by Robertson, and he sat as member until 1871, when he resigned due to financial pressures to accept an appointment as a

police magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

at Berrima. He was bankrupted on 24 February 1872. Not caring for official life, he again entered Parliament, this time for Camden, for which electorate he sat until the general election in June 1892, when, on account of ill-health, he decided not to again contest the seat, and bade farewell to political life. He was Secretary for Lands in the third Robertson Ministry from February 1875 to February 1877. Garrett was accused of bribery in relation to positions within the Department of Lands, and insobriety affecting his capacity to fulfill his responsibilities as minister. Garrett resigned as minister and the government narrowly survived a censure motion by 29 votes to 26. In the fourth Robertson ministry he filled the same post from August 1877. Garrett had a disagreement with Robertson on the question of the Land Bill and resigned in October, however the resignation was not accepted until 19 November 1877. He was succeeded, as on the former occasion, by

Ezekiel Baker Ezekiel Baker (17581836) was a master gunsmith from Whitechapel, London, who became known for his design of the Baker rifle in 1800. Baker was apprenticed to gunsmith Henry Nock and opened a gunshop of his own at 24 Whitechapel Road, London in 1 ...

. In March 1881

Julian Salomons Sir Julian Emanuel Salomons (formerly Solomons) (4 November 1835 – 6 April 1909) was a barrister, royal commissioner, Solicitor General, Chief Justice and member of parliament. He was the only Chief Justice of New South Wales to be appointe ...

was appointed a royal commissioner to inquire into inquire into the expenditure and distribution of £17,100, paid by the Government, under the authority of a Parliamentary vote, to the Milburn Creek Copper Mining Co Ltd. Ezekial Baker, one of the trustees, was the

Secretary for Mines The position of Secretary for Mines is a now defunct office in the United Kingdom Government, associated with the Board of Trade. In 1929, the department took over responsibility for petroleum. In 1940, the department was divided with Geoffrey ...

. Salomons reported that "there was an appropriation by the trustees to themselves ... under circumstances of concealment and false statement" and that there was an inference that one of the trustees, George Waddell, had bribed Garrett to vote in favour of the payment. Following publication of the report, the Legislative Assembly voted 71 votes to 2 to expel Baker. Two days later Parkes moved a similar motion in relation to Garrett, however the motion was defeated by 40 votes to 38. He was again Secretary for Lands in the fourth Parkes ministry from January 1887 to July 1888.

Personal life

Garrett was married three times, to Mary Ann Creagan on 30 September 1856, to Marcia Grocott and to Elizabeth McPhillamy. Thomas William, his second son to Mary Ann, was an early Australian Test cricketer. Garrett died on at Newtown. He was survived by Elizabeth, three sons of Mary Ann, a son of Marcia and two infant sons of Elizabeth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, Thomas 1830 births 1891 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 19th-century Australian politicians