Thomas Moffatt Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Hon
Thomas de Lacy Moffatt
Order1:2nd
Office1:Treasurer of Queensland
Term Start1:4 Aug 1862
Term End1:2 Oct 1864
Predecessor1:Robert Mackenzie
Successor1:Joshua Bell
Constituency1:Western Downs
Constituency Am2:Western Downs
Assembly2:Queensland Legislative
Term Start2:27 April 1860
Term End2:2 October 1864
Predecessor2:New seat
Successor2:John Watts
Alongside2:James Taylor
Birth Date:17 April 1824
Birth Place:Athlone, Ireland
Death Place:Ipswich, Queensland
Nationality:Irish
Spouse:Mary Isabella Bell
Occupation:Grazier, Squatter

Thomas de Lacy Moffatt (17 April 1824 – 2 October 1864),[1] was a politician in colonial Queensland, and a Treasurer of Queensland. His surname is also sometimes spelled "Moffat".

Early life

Moffatt was born in 1824 in Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland, the son of James Moffatt, the rector of Athlone, and his wife Elizabeth née Kellett. He set out for Australia in 1844 and worked with his uncle, Captain R. G. Moffatt, a former magistrate and commander of the military police in Port Stephens[2] who by that time had turned his attention to agriculture and sheep farming.[3] He later moved north and became a squatter, establishing a station called "Callandoon" on the Darling Downs. He sold the station in 1849 and moved to the town of Drayton. In 1852, the pastoral run Woondul was transferred from Moffat to Henry Stuart Russell.[4]

Political career

Moffatt was elected to the first Legislative Assembly of Queensland on 27 April 1860 for the district of Western Downs. Moffatt became Colonial Treasurer in the first Robert Herbert Ministry on 4 August 1862, and retained this post till his death on 2 October 1864.[5]

Notes and References

  1. http://genealogy.clanmoffat.org/getperson.php?personID=I28492&tree=UKEire Hon. Thomas de Lacy MOFFATT
  2. Book: In the Service of the Company: Letters of Sir Edward Parry, Commissioner to the Australian Agricultural Company. December 1829 - June 1832, Volume 1. 2005. ANU Press. 9781920942298. ix.
  3. Web site: Australian Agricultural Company . 16 January 2014.
  4. News: 20 July 1852 . TRANSFER OF RUNS. . 28 July 2019 . . New South Wales, Australia . 1115 . National Library of Australia . 73.
  5. Web site: Moffatt, Thomas de Lacy . Former Members . Parliament of Queensland.