| Both sides previous revision Previous revision Next revision | Previous revision |
| politics_the_post_office [2025/07/28 16:40] – [TLM-P's Career in Politics and the Post Office] judith | politics_the_post_office [2026/07/15 21:23] (current) – [Other aspects of TLM-P's Political Career] judith |
|---|
| TLM-P was active in community affairs from the early 1850s. In 1851 his status was recognised when he was one of the newly appointed Justice of the Peace (JP).((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 27 October 1851, p.3.)) In later years he was one of the magistrates appointed under the 'new Commission of the Peace' for Queensland.(([[https://pdfhost.io/v/1f25DJTvM_Halloran_Arthur_Edward_Associated_individual|//The Courier//, 17 January 1863, p.2.]])) \\ | TLM-P was active in community affairs from the early 1850s. In 1851 his status was recognised when he was one of the newly appointed Justice of the Peace (JP).((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 27 October 1851, p.3.)) In later years he was one of the magistrates appointed under the 'new Commission of the Peace' for Queensland.(([[https://pdfhost.io/v/1f25DJTvM_Halloran_Arthur_Edward_Associated_individual|//The Courier//, 17 January 1863, p.2.]])) \\ |
| |
| In 1852 he also became a founding committee member of the Moreton Bay and Northern Districts Separation Association, which worked to create the separate colony of Queensland.((//Moreton Bay Courier//, 18 March 1851, p.1.)) He was also an early member of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society, a society founded in 1862 to promote understanding how imported agriculture could be adapted for colonial purposes.((John Pearn, 'The Queensland Acclimatisation Society', //Queensland History Journal//, February 2020, 24:4, pp.339-355.)) TLM-P was an elected member of its Council in 1863-65, and in 1874 became a Life Member.((//The Brisbane Courier//, 9 May 1865, p.3 and 5 May 1874.))\\ | In 1851 he also became a founding committee member of the Moreton Bay and Northern Districts Separation Association, which worked to create the separate colony of Queensland.((//Moreton Bay Courier//, 18 March 1851, p.1.)) He was also an early member of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society, a society founded in 1862 to promote understanding how imported agriculture could be adapted for colonial purposes.((John Pearn, 'The Queensland Acclimatisation Society', //Queensland History Journal//, February 2020, 24:4, pp.339-355.)) TLM-P was an elected member of its Council in 1863-65, and in 1874 became a Life Member.((//The Brisbane Courier//, 9 May 1865, p.3 and 5 May 1874.))\\ |
| \\ | \\ |
| In 1859, Queensland separated from the colony of NSW in 1859. TLM-P served as an Alderman on the Brisbane City Council from its inception that year until 1861.((Helen Gregory, 'Squatters, selectors and - dare I say it - speculators', //Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland//, XI:4, 1983, p.87n.)) He was among the 19 eminent men who that year (1861) founded the [[http://www.queenslandclub.com/home|Queensland Club]]. It was an elite Club which only the wealthy could afford and, until 1884 when a new Clubhouse was opened on its current site (19 George Street), was in Mary Street, Brisbane. In his diary of 1888 (27 June) he notes that his half-year subscription was £3.19.0 (over $1000 p.a. in 2022 values). TLM-P was a Committee member in 1870 and Vice-President in 1889-91. His barrister son Hervey joined in 1882; his eldest son Thomas de M. M-P joined in 1885; and his grandson Thomas B. M-P joined in 1912.((Queensland Club, //Rules of the Queensland Club: with list of members//, Brisbane: Watson, Ferguson & Co., 1891, SLNSW DSM/367/Q; Joshua Bell, //Queensland Club 1859-1959//, Brisbane: Queensland Club, 1959, pp.8,12,85,98,114.)) The Queensland Club was and remains the meeting place for wealthy influential men (women are still not allowed to be members).((A. Morrison, 'Politics in early Queensland', //Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland//, 4:3, p.294.)) \\ | In 1859, Queensland separated from the colony of NSW in 1859. TLM-P served as an Alderman on the Brisbane City Council from its inception that year until 1861.((Helen Gregory, 'Squatters, selectors and - dare I say it - speculators', //Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland//, XI:4, 1983, p.87n.)) He was among the 19 eminent men who that year (1861) founded the [[http://www.queenslandclub.com/home|Queensland Club]]. It was an elite Club which only the wealthy could afford and, until 1884 when a new Clubhouse was opened on its current site (19 George Street), was in Mary Street, Brisbane. In his diary of 1888 (27 June) he notes that his half-year subscription was £3.19.0 (over $1000 p.a. in 2022 values). TLM-P was a Committee member in 1870 and Vice-President in 1889-91. His barrister son Hervey joined in 1882; his eldest son Thomas de M. M-P joined in 1885; and his grandson Thomas B. M-P joined in 1912.((Queensland Club, //Rules of the Queensland Club: with list of members//, Brisbane: Watson, Ferguson & Co., 1891, SLNSW DSM/367/Q; Joshua Bell, //Queensland Club 1859-1959//, Brisbane: Queensland Club, 1959, pp.8,12,85,98,114.)) The Queensland Club was and remains the meeting place for wealthy influential men (women are still not allowed to be members).((A. Morrison, 'Politics in early Queensland', //Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland//, 4:3, p.294.)) \\ |
| position if elected. When the bill was first introduced he thought they were to have self-government among the different provinces, and to have three provinces, but the present bill was very different. He thought the bill should go before the country, and after that be framed on a different basis, which would include three provinces. The [Legislative] Council would always neglect self interest for the for advancement of the colony as a whole'.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 27 October 1892, p.6.))\\ | position if elected. When the bill was first introduced he thought they were to have self-government among the different provinces, and to have three provinces, but the present bill was very different. He thought the bill should go before the country, and after that be framed on a different basis, which would include three provinces. The [Legislative] Council would always neglect self interest for the for advancement of the colony as a whole'.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 27 October 1892, p.6.))\\ |
| \\ | \\ |
| //Pugh's Almanac and Queensland Directory// (1889, p.525) lists him as 'Prior Hon. Thomas Lodge Murray M.L.C., J.P. Maroon Ipswich'. | He was also known as a rare politician who was concerned about the disgraceful conditions in what was then called 'lunatic asylums', especially Woogaroo Asylum. According to Duncan Richardson, as a Legislative Councilor and when he was the Postmaster-General, TLM-P stated that 'The Government will take further steps, so the public may rest assured the Asylum will be reformed.' His concern was expressed in terms of the lack of morality with the asylums, particularly after the Head Warder was accused of having sex with a patient. For Richardson, TLM-P's call for reform was simply hypocrisy given TLM-P's probable illegitimate children. This argument appears to suggest that only a sexually blameless politician should object to possible rape and general sexual harassment of powerless patients.((Duncan Richardson, //Dangerous to Know//, webinar for the Queensland family History Society, 15 July 2026))\\ |
| | \\ |
| Reference: D. Waterson, //A Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament 1860-1929//, Canberra: ANU Press, 1972, p.135.\\ | //Pugh's Almanac and Queensland Directory// (1889, p.525) lists him as 'Prior Hon. Thomas Lodge Murray M.L.C., J.P. Maroon Ipswich'. Reference: D. Waterson, //A Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament 1860-1929//, Canberra: ANU Press, 1972, p.135.\\ |
| |
| ===== Elise Barney ===== | ===== Elise Barney ===== |