Francis Abigail (16 January 1840 – 23 July 1921) was politician and manufacturer from
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 ...
, Australia.
Early life
Francis Abigail was the son of Hannah Coney and William Abigail. In 1860, he immigrated 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 ...
and was married the following year.
Politics and public service
He served as a
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Following are lists of members 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 Wal ...
for
West Sydney from 1880 to June 1891. He served as
Secretary for Mines
The position of Secretary for Mines was an office in the United Kingdom Government, associated with the Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for ...
in the
fourth ministry of Sir
Henry Parkes
Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and the longest-serving non-consecutive Premier of New South Wales, premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in ...
from 20 January 1887 to 10 January 1889.
He was a
Justice of the Peace for the colonies of New South Wales and
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
.
Abigail was a member of the New South Wales Commission for the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition of 1888. In 1890, he was a member of the Exhibition of Mining and Metallurgy, held at the
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...
. That same year, he visited England and the various
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
** Orange juice
*Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...
bodies in England and the north of Ireland. While in London, he gave evidence before the Royal Commission on Mines.
Criminal conviction
In July 1887 he was elected to the board of the Australian Banking Co, subsequently becoming chairman of directors and the company was placed in liquidation on 10 November 1891. In October 1892 he was charged, along with 6 others, with falsely representing the affairs of the bank, and was found not guilty.
[ He was then charged with conspiring with the manager, Roderick McNamara, to issue a false balance sheet, with fraudulent intent. They were convicted and Abigail was sentenced to imprisonment for 5 years while McNamara was sentenced to 7 years. He was released from prison in June 1895 after serving 2 years 6 months and 29 days.
]
Later life
He attempted to return to politics, standing as an independent candidate at the 1901 NSW Senate election, but polled 7,164 votes. well short of the 70,000 needed for election.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abigail, Francis
1840 births
1921 deaths
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Politicians from London
Australian justices of the peace
British emigrants to the Colony of New South Wales
Australian politicians convicted of crimes