John Arthur Fihelly (7 November 1882 – 2 March 1945) was a public servant, politician and

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player in Queensland, Australia. He was the

Treasurer of Queensland Treasurer of Queensland is the title held by the Cabinet (government), Cabinet Minister (government), minister who is responsible for the Queensland Treasury, and by extension, all financial matters of the Government of Queensland, Queensland Go ...

. He represented Australia as a professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer and a founder of the

Queensland Rugby League The Queensland Rugby Football League QRL Constitution, 2009: 3 (QRL QRL Constitution, 2009: 2) is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL Commission) and selects the mem ...

Early life

Fihelly was born in

Timoleague Timoleague () is a village in the eastern division of Carbery East in County Cork, Ireland. It is located along Ireland's southern coast between Kinsale and Clonakilty, on the estuary of the Argideen River. Nearby is the village of Courtmac ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, Ireland. The family emigrated to Australia the following year. He was educated at the Petrie Terrace State School and

St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace (colloquially known as Gregory Terrace, Terrace or GT) is an independent Catholic primary and secondary day school for boys, located in Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Found ...

, until 1895. He then joined the post office as a telegraph messenger. He eventually transferred to the Department of Trade and Customs.

Rugby

Fihelly was a rugby union flanker. and claimed one international rugby union cap for Australia, in 1907. He then became one of

football's founding players in Brisbane, being selected to represent Queensland during the

1907–08 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain The 1907–1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain was made by a group of New Zealand rugby footballers who played matches in Australia, Ceylon, England and Wales between 1907 and 1908. Most of the matches were played under the ...

against the visiting "All Blacks" in what were the first games of rugby league football ever played in Queensland. In 1908 he traveled to Britain on the first rugby league

Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australia national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours too ...

as assistant manager. Fihelly represented Queensland in rugby union 1905–07 against

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 ...

Politics

Fihelly got his start in 1908 when he joined the Department of Trade and Customs as a junior clerk in its State office. In 1918 Fihelly was made secretary of railways. He was elected as the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member for

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 ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

in 1912 and held several ministerial roles including

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

and

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

until his resignation in 1922.

Later life

Fihelly died of a

cerebral thrombosis A thrombus ( thrombi) is a solid or semisolid aggregate from constituents of the blood (platelets, fibrin, red blood cells, white blood cells) within the circulatory system during life. A blood clot is the final product of the blood coagulatio ...

on 2 March 1945. He deteriorated for years after fracturing his skull in September 1926 in an accident at Sandgate. Before dying, Fihelly spent time in the Dunwich Benevolent Institution. Upon his death in 1945, Fihelly was rewarded with a

State funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

at St Stephen's Cathedral and was buried in

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland, Queensland's lar ...

.Fihelly John Arthur
– Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 5 January 2015. Kangaroos 1908

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fihelly, Jack 1882 births Australia international rugby union players Australian rugby league administrators Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Burials at Toowong Cemetery Deputy premiers of Queensland Queensland rugby league team players 1945 deaths Treasurers of Queensland Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Attorneys-general of Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from County Cork People from Timoleague People educated at St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace Queensland rugby union team players Footballers who switched code 20th-century Australian sportsmen