James Joseph Dalton (6 February 1861 – 10 July 1924)'Death of Mr J. J. Dalton: Noted Orange Resident', ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 11 July 1924 was an

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...

Member of Parliament (MP) for West Donegal from 1890 to 1892. James Joseph Dalton was born in

Orange, New South Wales Orange is a city in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney on a great circle at an altitude of . Orange had an urban population of 41,920 at the 2021 Australia Census, 2021 Cens ...

, of an old Irish family. He was the second son of James Dalton and Margaret Collins. His half-sister Johanna married

John Redmond John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as leader ...

, later leader of the

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nati ...

, in 1883, and another sister (or half-sister), Eleanor, married John Redmond's brother

Willie Redmond William Hoey Kearney Redmond (13 April 1861 – 7 June 1917) was an Irish Irish nationalism, nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP). He was also a lawyer and soldier Denman, Teren ...

, also an Irish Party MP, in 1886. He was educated at

St Stanislaus College St Stanislaus College (often called Tullabeg College) was a Jesuit boys boarding school, novitiate and philosophy school, in Tullabeg, Rahan, County Offaly. St Carthage founded a monastery of 800 monks there in 595 before founding his monaste ...

Bathurst Bathurst may refer to: People * Bathurst (surname) * Bathurst Bellers Mann (1858–1948), Irish-born rugby union player in Wales * Bathurst Peachy (1893–1953), American college head baseball coach Places and jurisdictions Australia * Bat ...

, where he was captain of the football team. A few years later he travelled to Ireland, and studied law at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

. He was called to the Irish bar in 1888, and took part in the defence of activists during the

Land War The Land War () was a period of agrarian agitation in rural History of Ireland (1801–1923), Ireland (then wholly part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom) that began in 1879. It may refer specifically to the firs ...

of the later 1880s. In 1892 he married Frances Delaney of Dublin. He was elected unopposed to represent West Donegal at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in May 1890, taking his seat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...

. When the Irish Parliamentary Party split in December 1890 over the leadership of

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...

, he supported Parnell. In this he must have been influenced to some extent by his family relationship with John and Willie Redmond, both of whom were leading Parnellites. In the general election of 1892 he contested South Meath as a Parnellite, obtaining 2,199 votes to the 2,212 of the

Anti-Parnellite The Irish National Federation (INF) was a nationalist political party in Ireland. It was founded in 1891 by former members of the Irish National League (INL), after a split in the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) on the leadership of Charles S ...

candidate

Patrick Fullam Patrick Fullam (1847 – 18 January 1924) was an Irish nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to p ...

, a losing margin of only 13 votes. He contested the result through a successful petition to the courts, alleging improper interference by the Catholic clergy. A new writ was issued, but in the ensuing by-election in February 1893, Dalton again lost narrowly, obtaining 2,638 votes while the new Anti-Parnellite candidate

Jeremiah Jordan Jeremiah Jordan J.P. (1830 – 31 December 1911) was an Irish nationalist politician from County Fermanagh. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1885 to 1892, and from 1893 to 1910, taking his seat in the House of Commons of the United King ...

had 2,707. The course and outcome of Dalton's challenge to the clergy in 1892 were almost identical to those experienced by his Parnellite colleague Pierce Mahony at North Meath. Returning to Australia, he practised as a barrister and acted as director of the family business. He ran for 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 1895 as a

Protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

, contesting the seat of

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 ...

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton, J. J. Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Donegal constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1886–1892 1861 births 1924 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish Parliamentary Party MPs Parnellite MPs People from Orange, New South Wales People educated at St Stanislaus' College (Bathurst)