T. J. Ryan | |
|---|---|
 Ryan in 1916 | |
| Assistant Leader of the Labor Party | |
| In office 9 September 1920 – 1 August 1921 | |
| Leader | Frank Tudor |
| Preceded by | office established |
| Succeeded by | Matthew Charlton |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for West Sydney | |
| In office 13 December 1919 – 1 August 1921 | |
| Preceded by | Con Wallace |
| Succeeded by | William Lambert |
| 19th Premier of Queensland | |
| In office 1 June 1915 – 22 October 1919 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Governor | Hamilton Goold-Adams |
| Deputy | Ted Theodore |
| Preceded by | Digby Denham |
| Succeeded by | Ted Theodore |
| Leader of the Opposition in Queensland | |
| In office 6 September 1912 – 1 June 1915 | |
| Premier | Digby Denham |
| Deputy | Ted Theodore |
| Preceded by | David Bowman |
| Succeeded by | Edward Macartney |
| Leader of the Labor Party in Queensland | |
| In office 6 September 1912 – 22 October 1919 | |
| Deputy | Ted Theodore |
| Preceded by | David Bowman |
| Succeeded by | Ted Theodore |
| Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Barcoo | |
| In office 2 October 1909 – 14 October 1919 | |
| Preceded by | George Kerr |
| Succeeded by | Frank Bulcock |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thomas Joseph Ryan 1 July 1876 Port Fairy, Colony of Victoria |
| Died | 1 August 1921 (aged 45) Barcaldine, Queensland, Australia |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
| Resting place | Toowong Cemetery |
| Political party | Labor |
| Spouse |
Lily Virginia Cook (m. 1910) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | South Melbourne College Xavier College, Melbourne |
| Alma mater | University of Melbourne (BA, LLB) |
| Occupation | |
Thomas Joseph Ryan KC (1 July 1876 – 1 August 1921) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Queensland from 1915 to 1919, as leader of the state Labor Party. He resigned to enter federal politics, sitting in the House of Representatives for the federal Labor Party from 1919 until his premature death less than two years later.
Ryan was born in Port Fairy, Victoria, to Irish immigrant parents. He studied arts and law at the University of Melbourne, and worked for several years as a teacher at various private schools around Australia. He eventually settled in Queensland and entered the legal profession, working as a barrister in Brisbane. Ryan was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly in 1909, and became leader of the Labor Party in 1912. He led the party to victory at the 1915 state election, the first time it had secured majority government in Queensland.
As premier, Ryan led a reforming government that implemented many of the planks in the Labor platform, including the expansion of workers' rights, the implementation of price controls, and the establishment of new state-owned enterprises. After the Labor Party split of 1916, Queensland had the only remaining Labor government in Australia, giving Ryan a national profile. His government was re-elected at the 1918 state election but, in the following year, Ryan resigned to enter federal politics, winning the Division of West Sydney in New South Wales at the 1919 federal election. He was widely seen as the heir apparent to the Labor Party's federal leader, Frank Tudor, who was in poor health. Ryan's sudden death from pneumonia, at the age of 45, was seen as a major blow for the labour movement.