John Dooley
Premier of NSW
James Dooley was born on the 16th April 1877 in Longford, Ireland, and emigrated to Australia with his family in 1885. As a young man he worked as a draper’s assistant and as a tailor, eventually establishing himself in Lithgow. In 1905 he married Kate Rodé Trundle.
As President of the Lithgow Labor Party and a successful local businessman, Dooley won the seat of Hartley from the sitting Liberal in 1907. During the First World War Dooley opposed conscription and remained loyal to the ALP during the 1916 split. When Labor was elected to power again in 1920, Dooley‑this time representing Bathurst in the Legislative Assembly‑became Minister for Housing and Chief Secretary. During Premier Storey’s absence and illness, Dooley acted as Premier, and became Premier in his own right when Storey died in 1921.
In December of that year in an atmosphere of division and sectarianism, the Labor Party lost government when the independent Speaker stood down, and in the bitter election campaign of 1922 the ALP lost to the Nationalists. Years of internal ALP dispute followed, Dooley resigning the leadership in 1925 to Jack Lang, and losing his seat in 1927 to a challenger who had the support of local miners’ unions.
Through the 1930s Dooley tried his hand at business, with a number of failed enterprises. He contested elections but failed to win a seat in the Senate in 1931, and did not defeat Billy Hughes for North Sydney in 1946. He remarried in 1948, to Irene Mary Kenney, and died on the 2nd January 1950.