Neil Francis MacGroarty (1 May 1888 – 10 August 1971) was a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and a member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly 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 h ...

Early life

MacGroarty was born in Jane Street,

South Brisbane South Brisbane is an inner southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 14,292 people. Geography South Brisbane is on the southern bank of the Brisbane River, bounded to the nor ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, to Irish-born parents Daniel Cannon MacGroarty, inspector of schools, and his wife Anna Maria (née Kearney).Macgroarty, Neil Francis (1888–1971)
– ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

''. Retrieved 6 June 2015. Educated at

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 ...

and Nudgee College, he entered into articles of clerkship with Patrick O'Sullivan before being admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1911. MacGroarty became O'Sullivan's business partner for eight years and in 1919 he transferred to the bar where he practiced from the old Inns of Court building in Adelaide Street.

Political career

At the 1929 election, MacGroarty, the

Country and Progressive National Party The Country and Progressive National Party was a short-lived conservative political party in the Australian state of Queensland. Formed in 1925, it combined the state's conservative forces in a single party and held office between 1929 and 1932 u ...

candidate, defeated Labor's

Myles Ferricks Myles Aloysius Ferricks (12 November 1875 – 21 August 1932) was an Australian politician. Born in Maryborough, Queensland, he was educated there at Christian Brothers School before becoming a bush worker, teacher and journalist, and edito ...

to win the seat of

. He was immediately appointed

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 in his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

he attracted controversy when, after being interjected, he stated that the Queensland Court of Industrial Arbitration would be "ringbarked" as soon as possible. In April 1930, a

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

was held into the purchase of the Mungana mines and Chillagoe smelters by the Queensland Government in what became known as the

Mungana affair The Mungana affair involved the sale to the Government of Queensland, Australia, in 1922, of some mining properties in the Chillagoe- Mungana districts of northern Queensland, at a grossly inflated price. At that time, Ted Theodore was Premier of ...

. The former owners included Peter Goddard and Fred Reid as well as then

Queensland Premier The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

Ted Theodore Edward Granville Theodore (29 December 1884 – 9 February 1950) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Queensland from 1919 to 1925, as leader of the Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch), state Labor Party. He later entere ...

and future Premier, Bill McCormack. Macgroarty opened the crown submissions and, after the commissioner, former Justice James Campbell, found the transactions to be fraudulent, MacGroarty, for the crown, sued the four men for £30,000 damages before Chief Justice Sir James Blair of the

Supreme Court of Queensland The Supreme Court of Queensland is the highest court in the Australian State of Queensland. It was formerly the Brisbane Supreme Court, in the colony of Queensland. The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court allows its trial division to ...

. The four member jury went on to find in favour of the defendants. In his time as attorney general MacGroarty introduced the ''Companies Act of 1931'', and the controversial ''Judicial Proceedings (Regulations of Reports) Act of 1931''. The latter was regarded as an attempt to protect public morals, but was seen by the Labor Party as a personal vendetta against Brisbane ''

Truth Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...

'' newspaper. By the time of the 1932 election, MacGroarty had fallen out with important Catholic elements and lost his seat to Labor's

Vince Gair Vincent Clair Gair (25 February 190111 November 1980) was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of Queensland from 1952 until 1957, when his stormy relations with the trade union movement saw him expelled from the Labor Party. He was e ...

. Macgroarty left politics bitterly disillusioned and resumed his law practice until his retirement.

Personal life

On 21 December 1929, MacGroarty married Doreen Mary Joseph (died 1985)Family history research
— Queensland Government births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. Retrieved 6 June 2015. at

St. Mary's Catholic Church, South Brisbane St Mary's Church is a heritage-listed Roman Catholic church (building), church at 20 Merivale Street (corner of Peel Street), South Brisbane, Queensland, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Simkin and Ibler and built from 1 ...

and together had three sons and two daughters. He was captain of the senior football team at Nudgee College and executive-member of the

Queensland Rugby Union The Queensland Rugby Union, or QRU, is the Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of Rugby union in Queensland in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. History The QRU was founded in Brisbane in 1883 as t ...

. A former president of the Queensland Irish Association and a member of the Johnsonian Club, MacGroarty died at South Brisbane in August 1971. His funeral proceeded from St Ignatius' Church,

Toowong Toowong ( ) is a riverside Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 12,556 people with a median weekly household income of $1,927. Geography Toowong is ...

, to the

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 ...

.179297 Macgroarty Neil Francis
— Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 6 June 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacGroarty, Neil Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1888 births 1971 deaths Burials at Toowong Cemetery 20th-century Australian politicians People educated at St Joseph's College, Nudgee People educated at St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace