Sir William Patrick Manning (18 November 1845 – 20 April 1915) was an Australian financier and politician.

Early life

Manning was born at

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. I ...

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, to baker John Manning and Margaret Hourigan On 8 August 1868 he married Honorah Torpy in

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 ...

, with whom he had three daughters and five sons.

Business interests

He commenced working for an engineering firm, becoming chief accountant. The firm closed in the mid 1870s and he set up his own business as a public accountant and broker. He worked as a financier and had extensive business interests, including a director of the Sun Insurance Office from 1894, a director of the Citizens' Life Assurance Co from 1896 and chairman of the

Australian Joint Stock Bank The Australian Joint Stock Bank was a bank in Australia. It operated from 1852 to 1910, after which it became the Australian Bank of Commerce and then was taken over by the Bank of New South Wales in 1931. History The Australian Joint Stock Ban ...

from 1911.

Civic and political career

On 1 December 1887 he was elected an alderman for the Bourke Ward on the

Sydney Municipal Council The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842 ...

with a large majority, defeating

John Young John Young may refer to: Academics * John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow * John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Col ...

. He would serve on the council until 6 December 1900. In April 1891

Sydney Burdekin Sydney Burdekin (18 February 1839 – 17 December 1899) was an Australian politician. He was born in Sydney to merchant Thomas Burdekin and Mary Ann Bossley. He was educated at Darlinghurst and graduated from the University of Sydney in 18 ...

resigned as

Mayor of Sydney The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has be ...

to travel to Europe and Manning was unanimously elected to replace him. He served as Mayor until December 1894. During his time on council, he was a member of the Finance Committee, 1899–1900, the Electric Lighting Committee, 1895–1900 and the Disposal of Refuse Committee, 1895–98. He oversaw the remodelling of the Belmore Markets and played a major role in the construction of the Queen Victoria Market Building. He chaired the 1891 Royal Commission into Alleged Chinese Gambling and Immorality, and was also commissioner on three other occasions. He was noted for his management of the council during the financial crisis in 1893 and for assisting

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Sir

George Dibbs Sir George Richard Dibbs KCMG (12 October 1834 – 5 August 1904) was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales on three occasions. Early years Dibbs was born in Sydney, son of Captain John Dibbs, who 'disappeared' in the sa ...

in drafting the Bank Issue Act of 1893. He was a candidate for 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 ...

, district of East Sydney at the 1891 election, however he finished 5th with a margin of 705 votes (3.5%). He was successful at the 1893 by-election, winning with a margin of 23 votes (0.5%). Multi-member districts were abolished in 1894 and South Sydney was divided into 4 new districts, including Sydney-Phillip. Manning stood as the Protectionist candidate for Sydney-Phillip, however he was defeated at the 1894 election by 117 votes (7.7%). He was a strong advocate for Federation in his campaign for

Woollahra Woollahra is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is located 5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra. W ...

at the 1898 election, however this did not result in electoral success, defeated by 174 votes (12.5%). He did not hold ministerial or party office.

Death

Manning died at Rose Bay on . He was survived by his wife and eight children. The second son, Sir Henry, was a barrister and politician, while the fourth son, Frederic, was a writer.

Honours

Manning was knighted on 15 February 1894, by reference to his service as Mayor of Sydney.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, William Patrick 1845 births 1915 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Knights Bachelor Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney Sydney City Councillors Australian politicians awarded knighthoods