John Horgan (Australian politician)
Encyclopedia
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
in 1888–89. He is remembered most for his aggressive election campaigns in which he characterised six of the most prominent families in colonial
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
as the "six hungry families
Six hungry families
Six hungry families was a phrase used in the 1880s and 1890s to describe six of the most prominent and powerful families in colonial Western Australia, with extensive influence in judicial, political, mercantile and social circles...
".
John Horgan was born in Macroom, Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
on 15 July 1834. He was educated at Dr. Moynihan's Collegiate School in Cork. In the 1860s and 1870s he practised as a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
in Cork, becoming honorary secretary of the Cork Law Society. He became active in British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, campaigning actively, and ultimately successfully, for the election to the House of Commons of Joseph Ronayne.
Horgan married Mary Ann Oliff (née Horan) in 1861; they would have twelve children. In 1876, Horgan emigrated with his family to New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. For the next five years he practised law there. During this period there was constant conflict in the colony over Henry Parkes
Henry Parkes
Sir Henry Parkes, GCMG was an Australian statesman, the "Father of Federation." As the earliest advocate of a Federal Council of the colonies of Australia, a precursor to the Federation of Australia, he was the most prominent of the Australian Founding Fathers.Parkes was described during his...
' plan to introduce free, compulsory, secular education. This was aggressively resisted by Roman Catholics, whose schools would be closed. A devout Catholic, Horgan was against Parkes' plan, and in January 1881, following the successful passing of Parkes' legislation, Horgan and his family relocated to Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
.
In Western Australia, Horgan turned his energies to improving the standing of the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
. In his work he took on working men's cases for free, and in 1883–84 he helped secure limited reforms to the Master and Servant Act
Master and Servant Act
Master and Servant Acts or Masters and Servants Acts were laws designed to regulate relations between employers and employees during the 18th and 19th centuries. An 1823 United Kingdom Act described its purpose as "the better regulations of servants, labourers and work people"...
. In 1886, Horgan, along with Richard "Dickie" Haynes, formed Western Australia's first Eight Hours Association to agitate for the Eight-hour day
Eight-hour day
The eight-hour day movement or 40-hour week movement, also known as the short-time movement, had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. With working conditions...
.
In May 1886, the Legislative Council seat of Perth was made vacant by the death of Luke Leake. The following month a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
was held for the seat, and Horgan nominated. His platform was radical for its time; he advocated responsible government
Responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...
, payment of members, manhood suffrage, a land tax, and a unicameral legislature. He was an aggressive critic of the Government
Government of Western Australia
The formation of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then...
and the colony's powerful ruling elite. It was during this campaign that Horgan first characterised the most wealthy and powerful families of the colony as the "six hungry families", implying that they were hungry for more wealth, power and land. Although Edward Scott easily won the seat, Horgan surprised many by taking second place in the poll. Shortly after the election, he was successfully sued for libel by George Walpole Leake
George Walpole Leake
George Walpole Leake was a Western Australian barrister and magistrate and nephew of George Leake...
, a member of one of the "Six Hungry Families", and fined £500.
Stephen Henry Parker
Sir Stephen Henry Parker KCMG was a lawyer and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia from 1906 to 1914.-Early life:...
petitioned for bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
, and was therefore obliged to resign his seat in the Legislative Council. Horgan contested the subsequent by-election, on a similar platform as previously. He remained a staunch opponent of the Government, and was especially critical of Governor
Governor of Western Australia
The Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...
Broome
Frederick Broome
Sir Frederick Napier Broome KCMG was a colonial administrator in the British Empire.He was born in Canada, but was living in England in 1865, when he married Mary Anne Barker...
, who was seen by many of the working class as overbearing and quarrelsome. To the great surprise of the colony's ruling elite, Horgan defeated his conservative opponent Septimus Burt
Septimus Burt
The Hon Septimus Burt KC was a Western Australian lawyer, politician and grazier, the son of Sir Archibald Burt.He was born on 25 October 1847 at St Kitts in the West Indies, and educated at a private school at Melksham, Wiltshire, England...
by three votes. Stannage (1979) writes that "Horgan's victory was regarded at the time as a turning point in the history of working men's political activity.... The election had a liberating effect on the minds of the workers, analogous to the victory of Robert Lowe in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
forty years previously". Despite the significance of his election, Horgan achieved little in the Legislative Council, and held his seat only until the next general election on 22 January 1889, in which he was defeated by Edward Keene.
In August 1889, Horgan's wife died, and in February 1891 he married Mary Ann (Marion) Coffey. From 1890, Horgan practised in partnership with Frederick Moorhead, and later with M.G. Lavan. He died in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
on 8 July 1907, and was buried at East Perth Cemetery
East Perth, Western Australia
East Perth is an inner suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located next to the Perth CBD.Primarily an industrial area in the early twentieth century, it was the location of the East Perth gas works, East Perth Power Station , the East Perth railway yard, and East Perth engine sheds.A considerable...
.