Daniel O'Connor (13 September 1844 – 24 January 1914) was an Irish-born politician and businessman active in colonial-era

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Early life and education

O'Connor was born in

County Tipperary, Ireland County Tipperary () is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after the Norman invasion of Ireland ...

, to Patrick and Margaret O'Connor. In 1854 he moved with his family to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, sailing on the ''Lord Hungerford''. The younger O'Connor joined his father working in a butcher's shop after only a brief education. Eventually as a teenager he studied literature at the Sydney School of Arts and later at the City College. He was married in 1868 to Mary Carroll. They had seven children.

Business

By the early 1870s O'Connor had his own butchering business and had accumulated 14 houses and 7000 pounds. By 1872 he had lost his money and houses after speculating on goldmining shares. By the time the decade was out he had regained his fortune.

Public life

O'Connor was active in Sydney public life in the 1870s, being a member of the Catholic Association, chair of the Catholic Truth Society and vocal in his support of pardoned

Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood. They were secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...

prisoners. In 1876 he was elected to the Phillip Ward of the

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

. Apart from a brief period in 1879, he represented the ward until 1885. O'Connor was elected to the West Sydney electorate 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 House ...

in 1877. As a member of Parliament he was an opponent of Chinese immigration and payment of Members of Parliament. In December 1885 O'Connor was appointed

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government officia ...

in the fifth Robertson ministry, a role he served in for just over two months, until the ministry fell in February 1886. He joined the

Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party (FTP), officially known as the Free Trade and Liberal Association and also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states, was an Australian political party. It was formally organised in 1887 in New South Wales, in ...

with the emergence of political parties at the 1887 election. He was again appointed Postmaster-General in March 1889 in the

fifth Parkes ministry Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth Avenue * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a cont ...

, serving for over two and a half years. After serving eight terms and almost 14 years in the Legislative Assembly he lost his seat of West Sydney in the 1891 election that saw the emergence of the Labour Party, winning all four seats in West Sydney. He was subsequently appointed to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

. While still in Parliament, O'Connor went into business with sometime-politician John Hurley. In 1892 the business collapsed, forcing O'Connor, and Hurley, to declare bankruptcy. As a bankrupt he had to give up his seat in the Legislative Council. He was reappointed in 1895, serving until his resignation in July 1898 when he attempted to regain a seat in the Legislative Assembly switching to

Edmund Barton Sir Edmund "Toby" Barton (18 January 18497 January 1920) was an Australian politician, barrister and jurist who served as the first prime minister of Australia from 1901 to 1903. He held office as the leader of the Protectionist Party, before ...

's National Federal Party. O'Connor was elected to the Legislative Assembly seat of Sydney-Phillip at the 1900 by-election on a Protectionist ticket, retaining the seat in 1901. He served the electorate until 1904 when he finally withdrew from public life.

World trip

After leaving Parliament O'Connor embarked on a world tour, visiting England and Ireland before heading to the United States. He was in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

during the 1906 earthquake and lost all of his belongings.

Death

O'Connor died at the

Liverpool, New South Wales Liverpool is a suburb of South Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, south-west of the Sydney CBD. It is the administrative seat of the City of Liverpool and is in the Cumberland Plain. History Indigenous Before Bri ...

, asylum in 1914 (aged 69). He was buried in the Catholic section of the

Waverley Cemetery The Waverley Cemetery is a Heritage register, heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte, New South Wales, Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Daniel 1844 births 1914 deaths 19th-century Irish people Politicians from County Tipperary Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Free Trade Party politicians Protectionist Party politicians Australian butchers Postmasters-general of New South Wales