Michael O'Grady (16 October 1824 – 5 January 1876) K.S.G., M.L.A., was an Irish-born politician in Australia, member of 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 ...

Background

O'Grady was born in

Frenchpark Frenchpark, historically known as Dungar (), is a village in County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, Ireland on the N5 road (Ireland), N5 national primary road. It was the home of Douglas Hyde, the first President of Ireland. The nearby French ...

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

, Ireland, and went to London as a boy to push his fortune. In 1855 he was sent out to Sydney to establish a branch of the "People's Provident Society." The next year he removed to Melbourne and was connected with insurance business.

Politics

In 1861 O'Grady entered the Lower House of the Victorian Parliament as member for

South Bourke South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

, and was Vice-president Board Land & Works and Commissioner Public Works from 6 May 1868 to 11 July 1868 in the

Charles Sladen Sir Charles Sladen, (28 August 1816 – 22 February 1884), Australian colonial politician, was the 6th Premier of Victoria. Sladen was born in England near Walmer, Kent, the second son of John Baker Sladen, deputy-lieutenant of the county. He ...

Ministry. In November 1870 O'Grady was elected as member for Villiers and Heytesbury, a position he held until his death. He again held the

Commissioner of Public Works The Walsh Act is a piece of legislation in the U.S. state of New Jersey that permits local government, municipalities to adopt a non-partisan City commission government, commission form of government. The legislation was signed by Governor of New ...

post, in the

Charles Gavan Duffy Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG, His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC (12 April 1816 – 9 February 1903), was an Irish poet and journalist (editor of ''The Nation (Irish news ...

Ministry from 19 June 1871 to 10 June 1872. O'Grady, who was created a Knight of St. Gregory by the Pope in 1871, was a member of the Hawthorn Municipal Council from 1860 to 1861 and mayor 1870 to 1871. He died at his home in Hawthorn, Melbourne from a liver complaint on 5 January 1876.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogrady, Michael 1824 births 1876 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Politicians from County Roscommon 19th-century Australian politicians Ministers for public works (Victoria) People from Frenchpark