Robert John Lynn (14 March 1873 – 12 September 1928) was an Australian businessman and politician who served as a member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 1912 to 1924. Prior to entering politics, he had been prominent in the coal industry, although he had business interests across multiple sectors.

Early life and business career

Lynn was born in

Stockton, New South Wales Stockton is a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located from Newcastle's central business district. It is the only residential suburb of the City of Newcastle that lies north of the Hunter River, New South Wales, Hunter River. ...

(on the

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

), to Mary (née McKindley) and Richard Lynn. His father was an American-born shipwright, while his mother was Scottish. Lynn left school at the age of 14, working as a clerk with a wholesale business in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

. He arrived in Western Australia in 1895, during the gold rushes, and spent one year prospecting at Coolgardie before settling in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

, where he worked as a clerk for a shipping firm.Robert John Lynn
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 24 May 2016. After a series of joint ventures with other partners, Lynn eventually went into business himself. In 1919, his firm amalgamated with another company (becoming Johnson & Lynn Ltd.), and expanded into the coal trade. They supplied capital to run-down coal leases in the

Collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Many type ...

district, and eventually consolidated their interests into Amalgamated Collieries Ltd., which from the early 1920s had a near monopoly on the coalfields. Outside of the coal industry, Lynn served as managing director of six other companies at various points, across a wide range of industries.

Politics and later life

In 1904, Lynn was elected to the Fremantle Municipal Council, serving until 1909. He entered parliament for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

at the 1912 Legislative Council election, replacing Robert Laurie as one of the three members in West Province. Lynn joined the newly formed Nationalist Party in 1917, and was re-elected for another six-year term the following year. He retired from parliament in 1924, at the end of his second term. While in parliament, Lynn served as patron of the

East Fremantle Football Club The East Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Sharks and colloquially referred to as East Freo, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The team's home ground is Eas ...

from 1912 to 1918. The club's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award, the Lynn Medal, is named in his honour. Lynn died 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 ...

in September 1928, of

nephritis Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation ...

. He had married Ada Turton in 1901, with whom he had three children. A great-granddaughter,

June Craig Margaret June Craig AM (née Lynn; born 8 December 1930) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1974 to 1983, representing the seat of Wellington. She was a minis ...

, was also a member of parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynn, Robert 1873 births 1928 deaths Australian company founders Deaths from nephritis Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Politicians from Newcastle, New South Wales Western Australian local councillors Australian people of American descent Australian people of Scottish descent

Early life and business career

Politics and later life

See also

References