Edward Augustine St Aubyn Harney (31 August 1865 – 17 May 1929) was an Irish lawyer who sat in both the Australian Senate and the British House of Commons. He had the distinction of being called to the Bar in Ireland, Australia and England.

Private life and the law

Harney, a Roman Catholic, was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, the fifth son of Richard Harney JP whose family home was

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Waterford. Waterford City and County Council is the local authority for ...

. He was educated at

Castleknock College Castleknock College ( ga, Coláiste Caisleán Cnucha) is a voluntary Vincentian secondary school for boys, situated in the residential suburb of Castleknock, west of Dublin city centre, Ireland. Founded in 1835 by Philip Dowley, it is one ...

. He was called to the Irish Bar in 1892. Soon after he emigrated to Australia and was called to the Bar there in 1897. In 1905 he was made a

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

(KC) in Australia. He returned to England and was then called to the Bar by

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1906, taking silk (that is becoming a KC in England) in 1920. In 1898 he married Clarissa Crewdson Benington, the daughter of a medical doctor from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

. This marriage was dissolved in 1923 and Harney was remarried in 1927 to Kathleen Anderson from

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the ...

. They had a son Desmond who was born on 14 February 1929, just before his father's death. He went on to join the Diplomatic Service and was a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

councillor in Chelsea.

Politics

In 1901 he was elected a member of the first

Senate of Australia The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. There are a to ...

from

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

as a Free Trader sitting until the expiration the three-year term to which he had been elected. Harney stood as the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a l ...

candidate at the 1922 general election in

. The sitting MP was Havelock Wilson who had had a chequered political career having been elected as an Independent Labour candidate and then aligning himself with the Lib-Labs before becoming a founder member of the National Democratic Party and later getting back into Parliament in

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

as a Coalition Liberal – that is a supporter of the Liberal-Conservative coalition government led by

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...

. In a three cornered contest with Havelock Wilson standing as a National Liberal and a Labour candidate, Harney scraped home by just 25 votes over Labour with Havelock Wilson bottom of the poll. In the general election of 1923 and again in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China h ...

, Harney held his seat, this time in straight fights with Labour but with majorities of 7,195 and 6,319. Harney died just before the 1929 general election so no by-election was needed but this time Labour candidate

James Chuter Ede James Chuter Ede, Baron Chuter-Ede of Epsom, (11 September 1882 – 11 November 1965), was a British teacher, trade unionist and Labour Party politician. He served as Home Secretary under Prime Minister Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951, becomi ...

gained the seat.The Times, 18.5.29

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harney, Edward 1865 births 1929 deaths Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia Members of the Australian Senate People educated at Castleknock College Members of Gray's Inn Free Trade Party members of the Parliament of Australia Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 20th-century Australian politicians Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Australian King's Counsel