Peter Thomas Finn (1827/1828 – 1 April 1911) was a barrister in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Australia and

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

, New Zealand. For a short time, he was a member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

for the electorate of Avoca.

Biography

Finn was born in Ireland in either 1827 or 1828. The MP Hugh Finn was a younger brother. He commenced his tertiary education at

Queen's College, Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

, Ireland. He emigrated to Victoria in the 1850s and matriculated into the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

in 1857, obtaining his BA in the following year and his MA in 1874. In 1859, he was admitted as a barrister to the

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...

, practising in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

. On 25 July 1870, he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in a by-election following the resignation of

James Macpherson Grant James Macpherson Grant (1822 – 1 April 1885) was an Australian solicitor who defended the Eureka Stockade rebels and a politician who was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly and the Victorian Legislative Council. Early life and le ...

. He served from October 1870 until January 1871, when he was defeated by Grant at the 1871 election. Finn had previously unsuccessfully stood for election in Avoca (1861). Subsequently, he was unsuccessful in Grenville (1871) and St Kilda (1872). Finn sailed to Invercargill in 1876 and had entered a law partnership with Richard Matthews by February 1877. From 1880 until 1889, he was in partnership with Robert Henry Rattray. He married Rosa Helen Champ, daughter of Colonel Champ from Darra in Victoria, on 6 March 1878 at Invercargill. She died on 13 June 1885, aged 37, and was buried at Invercargill's Saint John's Cemetery. Finn supported the election campaign of

Patrick McCaughan Patrick Kinney McCaughan (8 September 1844 – 25 December 1903) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Southland, New Zealand. He represented the Riverton electorate from 1879 to 1881, when he retired. References 1844 bir ...

, who successfully contested the in the electorate, and of Henry Feldwick, who was defeated in the electorate. He himself considered contesting the electorate in the Lake District, but stood back in favour of his brother, who was successful. He contested the in the electorate against

Henry Driver Henry Driver (1831–23 Jan 1893) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Otago, New Zealand. He was born in the United States, but as a young man emigrated to Victoria, Australia. When the Otago gold rush began in 1861 he establi ...

and

Cuthbert Cowan Cuthbert Cowan (1835 – 4 April 1927) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Southland, New Zealand. Biography Political career Cowan represented the Wallace electorate in 1869, but he resigned after only three months, and then ...

, in which Driver was elected and Finn came a distant last; this marked the end of Finn's parliamentary ambitions in New Zealand, as he did not contest the subsequent elections in or . Returning to Victoria in around 1890, he briefly practised law in Melbourne and Ballarat before moving to

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

. His remaining years were spent in Meredith. He died on 1 April 1911 at Fitzroy, probably at St Vincent's Hospital. He was survived by one son who, at the time of Finn's death, lived in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finn, Peter 1820s births 1911 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly People from Invercargill Irish emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century New Zealand lawyers Australian barristers Year of birth missing