Francis Edward O'Flynn

Last updated April 02, 2019

Francis Edward O’Flynn (24 July 1872 – 18 June 1942) was a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council from 22 September 1937 to 18 June 1942, when he died aged 69. He was appointed by the Labour Government.

The Legislative Council of New Zealand existed from 1841 until 1951. When New Zealand became a colony in 1841 the Legislative Council was established as the country's first legislature; it was reconstituted as the upper house of a bicameral legislature when New Zealand became self-governing in 1852.

The First Labour Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 1935 to 1949. Responsible for the realisation of a wide range of progressive social reforms during its time in office, it set the tone of New Zealand's economic and welfare policies until the 1980s, establishing a welfare state, a system of Keynesian economic management, and high levels of state intervention. The government came to power towards the end of, and as a result of, the Great Depression of the 1930s, and also governed the country throughout World War II.

He was born in Greymouth, and was a schoolteacher. He was headmaster of Runanga School, and as a civil servant could not engage in politics. He wrote pamphlets for first the Socialist Party and then the Labour Party under the pseudonym of Ballot Box. In 1912 he co-authored a pamphlet about the Waihi miners' strike The Tragic Story of the Waihi Strike with Harry Holland and Robert Samuel Ross.

The New Zealand Labour Party, or simply Labour, is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers describe Labour as social-democratic and pragmatic in practice. It is a participant of the international Progressive Alliance.

The Waihi miners' strike was a major strike action in 1912 by gold miners in the New Zealand town of Waihi. It is widely regarded as the most significant industrial action in the history of New Zealand's labour movement. It resulted in one striker being killed, one of only two deaths in industrial actions in New Zealand.

Henry Edmund Holland was an Australian-born newspaper owner, politician and unionist who relocated to New Zealand. He was the second leader of the New Zealand Labour Party.

He married Margaret Helen Valentine Duncan in 1915. Their son Frank O'Flynn was a lawyer and Labour Member of Parliament.

Francis Duncan "Frank" O'Flynn was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Related Research Articles

Edward Hunter 2 June 1885 – 6 December 1959 was a Scottish socialist active in both Scotland and New Zealand. He was a trade union organiser, politician and a writer, and played a considerable role in the development of socialism in New Zealand. Born in Lanarkshire he was the son of a miner, which he would later become himself at the age of 12 after receiving little formal education. He emigrated to the West Coast of New Zealand in 1906, already a committed socialist, influenced by Scottish left-wing thinkers such as Keir Hardie and Bob Smillie. As a miners' leader, Hunter became a leading member of the New Zealand Federation of Labour.

Tom Mann organiser and public speaker in the labour movement in England and Australia

Thomas Mann was a noted British trade unionist. Largely self-educated, Mann became a successful organiser and a popular public speaker in the labour movement.

The Social Democratic Party of New Zealand was an early left-wing political party. It existed only a short time before being amalgamated into the new Labour Party. During its period of existence, the party held two seats in Parliament.

The United Labour Party of New Zealand was an early left-wing political party. Founded in 1912, it represented the more moderate wing of the labour movement. In 1916 it joined with other political groups to establish the modern Labour Party.

The Social Democratic Party is a political party in the United Kingdom, established in 1990. It traces its origin to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) which was formed in 1981 by a group of dissident Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs) and former MPs: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams, who became known as the 'Gang of Four'. The original SDP merged with the Liberal Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats, but Owen, two other MPs and a minority of party activists formed a breakaway group with the same name immediately afterward. That continuing party dissolved itself in 1990, but some activists met and voted to continue the party in defiance of its National Executive, leading to the creation of a new Social Democratic Party.

Alfred Martin Madsen was a Norwegian engineer, newspaper editor, trade unionist and politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. He began as deputy chairman of their youth wing, while also working as an engineer. In the 1910s he rose in the hierarchy of the party press, and eventually in the Labour Party and the Confederation of Trade Unions as well. He was an important party and trade union strategist in the 1920s. He served six terms in the Norwegian Parliament, and was the parliamentary leader of his party for many years. He was twice a member of the national cabinet, as Minister of Social Affairs in 1928 and Minister of Trade from 1935 to 1939.

Paul Flynn (politician) Welsh politician and MP

Paul Philip Flynn was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newport West from the 1987 general election until his death. He briefly served as Shadow Secretary of State for Wales and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons during 2016. Aged 81, he became the oldest MP in over a century to hold a shadow cabinet position.

Warren Wilfred Freer was a New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party. He represented the Mount Albert electorate from 1947 to 1981.

The Reform Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 1912 to 1928. It is perhaps best remembered for its anti-trade union stance in the Waihi miners' strike of 1912 and a dockworkers' strike the following year. It also governed during World War I, during which a temporary coalition was formed with the Liberal Party.

Hubert Thomas "Tim" Armstrong was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

William Edward Parry was a New Zealand Minister and trade unionist.

John Gerald O’Brien, known as Gerald O'Brien, was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Vivian Harold Potter was a New Zealand Member of Parliament, miner, trade unionist, and soldier.

Fredrick George Evans was an Australian industrial worker who rose to prominence for his role and death in the Waihi miners' strike. To date he is one of the only two people to die in an industrial dispute in New Zealand's history.

Edward (Teddy) Dye was a New Zealand trade unionist and miner.

A general strike is a strike action in which a substantial proportion of the total labour force in a city, region, or country participates. General strikes are characterised by the participation of workers in a multitude of workplaces, and tend to involve entire communities. General strikes first occurred in the mid-19th century, and have characterised many historically important strikes.

Frederick Parkin Hammill was a British trade union activist, and a co-founder of the Independent Labour Party.

References

Labour's Path to Political Independence p163 (1980) by Barry Gustafson

Barry Selwyn Gustafson is a New Zealand political scientist and historian, and a leading political biographer. He served for nearly four decades as Professor of Political Studies at the University of Auckland, and as Acting Director of the New Zealand Asia Institute from 2004 to 2006. He has contested various general elections, first for the Labour Party and later for the National Party, coming second each time.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.