Patrick McGarry (1863 – 23 December 1930) was an Irish-born Australian politician. He was born in Killalbely in

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

to farmer Bernard McGarry and Mary Loughlin. In Ireland, where he worked as an alluvial miner, he was active in the

Land League The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún''), also known as the Land League, was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which organised tenant farmers in their resistance to exactions of landowners. Its prima ...

. Around 1885 he went to the United States, working in Boston for four years during which he was active in the

Knights of Labor The Knights of Labor (K of L), officially the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was the largest American labor movement of the 19th century, claiming for a time nearly one million members. It operated in the United States as well in ...

. In 1890 his arrival in

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 ...

coincided with the maritime strike, which he assisted. He tried his luck on the

Gundagai Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Honeys ...

goldfields and spent time in the northern sugar district before returning to settle in Sydney around 1900. On 17 January 1900 he married Mary Myres, with whom he had three children. In 1904 he was elected to 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 ...

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 Murrumbidgee. A supporter of military

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

, he left the party in the 1916 split and won re-election in 1917 as a

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 promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

. In 1920, with the introduction of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

, he was denied preselection for the new multi-member Murrumbidgee and was defeated as an independent Nationalist. He is believed to have made some money as a land dealer after his defeat, but he died impoverished in

Hunters Hill Hunters Hill is a suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Hunters Hill is located north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government in Australia, local ...

in 1930.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGarry, Patrick 1863 births 1930 deaths Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Irish emigrants to Australia