George Henry Neilly (3 March 1917 – 6 May 1987) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

New South Wales Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Each ...

from 1954 to 1977. He was a member of the Labor Party (ALP). Neilly was born in the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and ...

coal mining town of

Kurri Kurri Kurri Kurri is a small town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Cessnock LGA. At the , its population was 6,044. Kurri Kurri is the largest town in a group of towns and hamlets, including Stanford Merthyr, Pelaw Main, ...

. He was the son of a carter and was educated to 8th grade level at

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

High School. At age 17 he became a coal miner at

Abermain Abermain is a town 8 km ENE of Cessnock and 3 km west of Weston, in New South Wales, Australia. Abermain is adjacent to Werakata National Park. Abermain Post Office opened on 1 June 1904. In 1882 Professor Sir Tannatt William Edgew ...

Colliery. He was an office-holder in the Miners' Federation and was general secretary of the Northern Lodge of the union from 1954 to 1959. He saw service during World War Two on HMAS ''Australia''. In 1954 he was elected 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 the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in t ...

through an indirect election by the New South Wales Parliament. He was elected for the balance of the term of

Francis Buckley Francis "Frank" C. Buckley, (April 8, 1921 – February 1, 2016) was president and spokesperson for the Buckley's company, founded by his adoptive father W.K. Buckley, in 1920. In 2005, the company was sold to Novartis. In 2003, he was made a ...

who resigned from parliament. He won ALP pre-selection for the seat of Cessnock at the 1959 state election. He won the seat replacing the previous member John Crook. He retired due to ill health prior to the state election of 1978. He was the father of Stan Neilly who was also a member for the seat of Cessnock.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neilly, George 1917 births 1987 deaths People from Kurri Kurri Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council 20th-century Australian politicians