Hugh John Connell DSO, MC & Bar (12 June 1884 – 31 January 1934) was an Australian politician from the Labor Party and a soldier who served in World War I.

Early life

Connell was born in the Sydney suburb of

Woollahra, New South Wales Woollahra ( ) is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is located east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra. Woollahr ...

and educated at Woollahra and

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

public schools,

Fort Street High School Fort Street High School (FSHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, New South Wales government run, Mixed-sex school, co-educational, Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective, secondary school, secondary day school, ...

and at a teachers' training college. He taught at state schools in Sydney (1900–1905), Golgolgon and Tarcoon (1905–1908),

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

and nearby Alma (1908–1910). As a result of criticism of employers during the 1909 lockout, he was transferred to

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...

. He then taught at Howell (near

Guyra Guyra is a town situated midway between Armidale and Glen Innes on the Northern Tablelands in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is within Armidale Regional Council and at the 2021 census, it had a population of 2,077. M ...

), the

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

suburb of Wickham and the Sydney suburb of Burwood (1910–1915) and finally at the Newcastle suburb of Carrington.

Military service

Connell served from the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in military training and in 1916 joined the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main Expeditionary warfare, expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following United Kingdom of Great Bri ...

as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the 35th Battalion and was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in May 1916. He was awarded a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

at the Battle of Messines in 1917. He received a bar to his Military Cross during the German Spring Offensive of 1918. He retired in 1919 as a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Political career

In 1920, Connell was elected as a Labor Party member for

in 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 ...

from 1920 to 1927. In 1927 he was elected to the seat of Kahibah and on its abolition in 1930, he was elected as the member for

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, which he held until his death in the Newcastle suburb of

Merewether Merewether () is a former Municipality and today a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located from Newcastle's central business district with a population of around 11,000. The suburb stretches from Merewether Beach in the east to ...

Honours

Connell received a

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

in 1917,

in 1916 and bar in 1917, and was twice

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

Legacy

The Hugh Connell Memorial Shield was dedicated after Connell's death and was awarded to the winner of a state-wide school soccer competition.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connell, Hugh John Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Companions of the Distinguished Service Order 1884 births 1934 deaths Recipients of the Military Cross Australian military personnel of World War I Australian schoolteachers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians People educated at Fort Street High School