John Gannon (Australian politician)

John Thomas Gannon (1830 – 5 August 1887) was a politician and solicitor in New South Wales, Australia.

He was born in Sydney in around 1830,^[1][a] the second child of convict James Gannon and his wife Mary née Phelps. A younger brother Michael would later be a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.^[3] He attended state schools before becoming an articled clerk to Bob Nichols. On 12 July 1855 he married Harriette Mary Jones, with whom he had four children. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1857.^[4] before moving to Goulburn from 1859.^[5]

He served as Mayor of Goulburn from 1872 to 1873.^[6][7] He was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Argyle at the by-election in 1881, serving until he resigned in March 1885.^[1]

Death

Gannon died at Parramatta in 1887, aged around 56.^[1][2][5]

His eldest son, Henry Shuttleworth followed his father, practicing as a solicitor, and was Mayor of Goulburn in 1888 and 1889, but was unsuccessful in standing for parliament at the 1890 by-election for Goulburn,^[8] and the 1894 election for Argyle.^[9] In 1897 he ostensibly went on holiday to Fiji, but in fact fled to the United States after misappropriating nearly £15,000 of client's money.^[10][11][12]

Notes

1. The Australian Men of Mark gives his year of birth as 1832.^[2]