William Lennon (8 December 1849 – 5 May 1938) was a politician in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. He was a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former electoral div ...

and a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Council Following are lists of members of the Queensland Legislative Council: * 1860–1869 * 1870–1879 * 1880–1889 * 1890–1899 *1900–1909 The 1900s may refer to: * 1900s (decade), the decade from 1900 to 1909 * The century from 1900 to 1999, al ...

. He was

Lieutenant-Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial func ...

Biography

Lennon was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland to parents William Lennon Snr and his wife Ann (née Martin). Arriving with his family in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1855 he received his education there and by 1870 he was employed as a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

with the Victorian Mines Department. In 1874 he joined the

Bank of Australasia The Bank of Australasia was an Australian bank in operation from 1835 to 1951. Headquartered in London, the bank was incorporated by Royal Charter in March 1834. It had initially been planned to additionally include first South Africa and then ...

and was posted at

Creswick Creswick is a town in west-central Victoria, Australia, 18 kilometres north of Ballarat and 122 kilometres northwest of Melbourne, in the Shire of Hepburn. It is 430 metres above sea level. At the 2016 census, Creswick had a populatio ...

and it was here that he made friends with David Temple and

William Spence William Guthrie Spence (7 August 1846 – 13 December 1926), was an Australian trade union leader and politician, played a leading role in the formation of both Australia's largest union, the Australian Workers' Union, and the Australian Labor ...

, two pioneers of the

trade union movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

in Australia.Lennon, William (1849–1938)
– ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

''. Retrieved 1 May 2016. In 1881 he was transferred to

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

to open a branch of the bank there and later supervised its expansion to other centres in

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

and by 1885 he was working 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 ...

as a sub-inspector. He left the bank a year later to take up the role of manager of Burns, Philp & Co. Ltd. He was employed there for ten years but clashes with James Burns over administrative procedures and salary levels led to his resignation and Lennon then established his own mercantile and auctioneering business in Townsville. He was a director of the

Bank of North Queensland The Bank of North Queensland was formed in 1887 in Townsville with branches in Sydney and London. In 1893 there were branches in: Ayr, Cairns, Charters Towers, Cooktown, Herberton, Normanton, Rockhampton and Thursday Island and agencies at ...

and the Townsville Gas Company. On 29 November 1877 Lennon married Mary Cecilia Ryan (died 1937) at

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

and together had three sons and three daughters.Family history research
— Queensland Government births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. Retrieved 1 May 2016.Family history search
— Victorian Government births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. Retrieved 1 May 2016. He died in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

in May 1938 after several years of bad health. As per Lennon's personal wishes, his family declined the offer of a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

and his funeral at the

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland's largest cemet ...

was attended by a few close relatives.

Public career

Lennon started off his career by being a councilor on the Thuringowa Divisional Board. Then at the 1899 Queensland colonial election, representing the Labour Party, he unsuccessfully stood against his former employer,

Robert Philp Sir Robert Philp, (28 December 1851 – 17 June 1922) was a Queensland businessman and politician who was Premier of Queensland from December 1899 to September 1903 and again from November 1907 to February 1908. Early life Philp was born in ...

, for the seat of

. In 1907, he stood for the seat of

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert ...

and narrowly defeated the sitting member,

Alfred Cowley Sir Alfred Sandlings Cowley (24 April 1848 – 1 December 1926) was a politician in Queensland, Australia. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Early life Cowley was born in Fairford, Gloucestershire, England, the so ...

. He would go on to represent the electorate until his resignation on 1920 to take up the role of Lieutenant-Governor of Queensland. For the last four months he was the

Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland is elected by the members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly to preside over sittings of the Assembly and to maintain orderly proceedings. The Speaker must be a member of the Legislative ...

and from 1915 until 1919 the Secretary for Agriculture and Stock. When the first majority Labor government came to power in 1915, it found itself up against a hostile

Queensland Legislative Council The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May 1860. It was abolished by the Constitution Amendment Act 1921, which to ...

. The Labour Party saw the Council as undemocratic and a tool of patronage and wanted it abolished. After Bills for this purpose were rejected by the Council itself in 1915 and 1916, the government held a referendum to abolish it in 1917, but the people of Queensland rejected it. Hon

Soon after the referendum, and apparently on the urging of the Labor government, the

Queensland Governor The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial functi ...

, Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams appointed thirteen new members, all of whom whose political allegiance lay with Labor, to the Council. As the council continued to reject money bills, Ryan urged the Governor to appoint more members to the Council in 1918, but this request was refused. Goold-Adams' term as Governor of Queensland expired in 1920 and before he set sail back home to England, appointed Lennon to the role of Lieutenant-Governor of Queensland with a salary of £1000 per annum.Goold-Adams, Sir Hamilton John (1858–1920)
– ''

''. Retrieved 1 May 2016. Once Lennon took the role of Lieutenant-Governor he immediately appointed another fifteen Labor men (known as the suicide squad) to the Council, much to the disgust of the "old Guard" members such as

Arthur Hawthorn Arthur George Clarence Hawthorn (31 October 1859 – 6 May 1934) was a solicitor, and member of both the Queensland Legislative Council and Queensland Legislative Assembly. Early life Hawthorn was born in October 1859 at Hobart Town, Tasmania ...

and

Patrick Leahy Patrick Joseph Leahy (; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who is the senior United States senator from Vermont and serves as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate. A member of the Democratic Party, ...

.New members
—

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official print ...

. Retrieved 1 May 2016. When the President of the Council, William Hamilton died in July 1920, Lennon appointed himself, not only to be Hamilton's replacement in the Council, but to the role of President as well. The next year the Council, now with an overwhelming Labor majority, voted itself out of existence with the Constitution Act Amendment Bill.amendment bill
—

. Retrieved 1 May 2016. The Council met for the last time on 27 October 1921 and the bill was given royal assent on 23 March 1922.Abolition on the Legislative Council
—

. Retrieved 1 May 2016. Lennon remained the salaried Lieutenant-Governor until the Labor government lost power in 1929.

Biography

Public career

References

Further reading