Thomas James Lavelle was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician. He was born in Liverpool, New South Wales

Liverpool, New South Wales

Liverpool is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Liverpool is located 32 km south-west of the Sydney central business district, and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Liverpool...

, and received a primary education. He worked variously as a farmer, a canecutter and a railworker, before becoming an organiser of the Australian Workers' Union

Australian Workers' Union

The Australian Workers' Union is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s, and currently has approximately 135,000 members...

. In 1919, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 as the Labor

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 member for Calare

Division of Calare

The Division of Calare is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was first contested at the 1906 election and is named for the local Aboriginal name for the Lachlan River, which runs through the western part of the division...

, defeating Nationalist

Nationalist Party of Australia

The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...

 MP Henry Pigott

Henry Pigott

Henry Robert Maguire Pigott was an Australian politician. He was born in Ceylon of Irish parents , and attended the London School for the Sons of Missionaries. He emigrated to Australia in 1885, becoming a bank officer, and a stock and station agent. He owned land at Tottenham in 1910...

. He held the seat until 1922, when he was defeated by Nationalist Neville Howse

Neville Howse

Major General Sir Neville Reginald Howse VC, KCB, KCMG, KStJ was a British-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces...

. He subsequently became an insurance salesman and public servant. He died in 1944.