For the love of old times - JCL Fitzpatrick
Way back in 1888 , a young JCL Fitzpatrick established a newspaper in Windsor . He was not only a journalist but also a politician and an accomplished author .
John Charles Lucas Fitzpatrick was born in 1862 in Moama , a small town on the Murray River on the opposite side to Echuca . His father John James Fitzpatrick was a police constable born in Ireland .
JJ Fitzpatrick arrived in Victoria in the early 1850s , lured to the Ballarat goldfields and spent the early part of his career in the Riverina district .
He married Elizabeth ‘ Betsy ’ Lucas from Burrowa in 1861 and they had five sons and three daughters .
The family settled in Windsor in 1869 where JJ Fitzpatrick worked in the local police force . In 1874 , tragedy struck the family when eleven-year-old Albert Fitzpatrick drowned while swimming in South Creek . It was around this time
Poem titled Windsor from ‘ Various Verses ’ JCL Fitzgerald . Courtesy : State Library of NSW .
that John ’ s father filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery .
Edward McPhee , a local constable was named as the other party . Legislation was only introduced in NSW in 1873 . The Fitzpatrick divorce was granted in 1877 . JJ Fitzpatrick was regarded as ‘ a man of liberal views ’ and died in Windsor in 1899 .
By 1876 , John was apprenticed at the local newspaper The Australian : Windsor & Richmond Advertiser which began in 1871 . Following a stint in Melbourne , around 1880 , where he worked on the illustrated magazine Punch as a compositor arranging the type for printing . He then gained valuable experience with several regional newspapers including a stint as a journalist on the Southern Argus in Goulburn , before returning to the Hawkesbury to establish his own newspaper .
He was only twenty-six years old when he launched the Windsor & Richmond Gazette in George Street , Windsor . In the first issue he wrote that the aim was a paper not based on ‘ sensationalism or novelty … but on the consistency ’ and from the outset , the newspaper under Fitzpatrick ’ s guidance , displayed ‘ considerable literary ability ’. Stories included news , court proceedings , meetings , sport , local events , church and school information , advertising , as well as some literary content such as fiction stories and poems . Newspapers were the main method of communicating news and in those days were read with bated breath !
Fitzpatrick was both owner and editor of the newspaper until he sold it in 1899 to John Osborne . In 1905 , Fitzpatrick purchased another newspaper called the Molong Argus but he only held it for a short period as he wanted to focus his energy on his career in politics .
Fitzpatrick was remembered as one of the founding members of the Provincial Press Association established in 1890 , forerunner of the Press Association , ‘ passionate advocates ’ for local stories . The liberal-minded Fitzpatrick had a long and distinguished political career and was a Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly for over 35 years . He unsuccessfully contested the seat of Hawkesbury in 1891 and again in 1894 .
The first time he was elected was in 1895 for Rylstone but the election was overturned but was re-elected shortly after , holding the seat until 1904 . He contested several other seats unsuccessfully and was elected to represent Orange , and later Bathurst .
Passionate about history , Fitzpatrick was an ideal trustee of the Public Library of NSW , now known as the State Library of NSW , a position he held for thirtyplus years and featured on many other committees over the years .
He travelled extensively for someone of that time and lectured widely on these exotic trips . In 1896 he visited Fiji following the death of his brother Herbert , a chemist working on a plantation in Fiji , when he succumbed to typhoid .
Fitzpatrick was winding up his late brother ’ s estate and visited Herbert ’ s final resting spot in Suva . A trip in 1905 saw Fitzpatrick visit the East via Darwin , travelling to China , Japan and the Philippines .
He visited Java , Singapore , New Caledonia and Fiji in 1908 and in 1914 visited Java again , as part of the Colonial Exhibition .
He compiled a number of publications relating to his travels including ‘ Eastward ho !: being a record of a trip to Manila , China and Japan ’ ( 1905 ) and ‘ A jaunt to Java : being a record of a trip to the Dutch East Indies , Singapore and Johore ... Notes on a trip to New Caledonia & Fiji ’ ( 1908 ).
Aside from politics , he had a fondness for Australian history and authored several local histories focussing on recollections of the Hawkesbury district and his writings
Hon JCL Fitzgerald Minister for Local Government 1925 . Courtesy : State Library of NSW .
were both popular and entertaining . ‘ The Good old days : being a record of facts and reminiscences ’ was published in 1900 . Fitzpatrick ’ s second volume of reminiscences , ‘ When we were boys together ’ first appeared in the pages of a local newspaper in 1909 .
He also wrote ‘ The good old days of Molong ’ in 1913 . Having a soft spot for the Hawkesbury , the locality where he grew up and commenced his first newspaper , he compiled ‘ Those were the days : being a record of the doings of the men and women of the Hawkesbury 50 years ago ’ in 1923 .
He published several volumes of poetry under the title ‘ Various Verses ’ in 1895 and 1907 . A number of poems focussed on the local landscape including St Albans , Wisemans Ferry and Kurrajong as well as some local identities .
He had a luxuriant moustache and was always well turned-out , often with a fresh flower in his buttonhole . In 1930 , he retired from politics and just two years later , passed away . He was survived by his wife Agnes , who he had married in 1886 and his two children Albert and Dorothy . Aged 70 , John Charles Lucas Fitzpatrick renowned for his witty speeches and who was held in high esteem died at his home in Roseville in 1932 .
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