THORN, George (1838-1905)

premier of Queensland

was the son of George Thorn, the founder of Ipswich and a member of the first Queensland legislative assembly. He was born at Sydney in 1838 and was educated at The King's School, Parramatta, and Sydney university, where he took the degree of B.A. in 1858. He followed pastoral pursuits for some years, and in 1867 was elected for West Moreton in the Queensland legislative assembly. From January 1874 to June 1876 he was a member of the Macalister (q.v.) government as postmaster-general and representative of the ministry in the legislative council. He then succeeded Macalister as premier and was also secretary for public works, postmaster-general and secretary for mines. He resigned on 8 March 1877 when his ministry was merged in the Douglas (q.v.) ministry. In the new cabinet he held the portfolios of public works and mines and was also secretary for public lands for a few months. He resigned from the ministry in February 1878 and went to Europe as a Queensland commissioner to the Paris exhibition. In 1879 he was elected to the legislative assembly but did not again hold office. He was defeated in 1888, was again elected in 1893, and held the seat until 1902. He died in 1905. Thorn was an astute politician with a genial manner who gained prominence chiefly on account of his personal popularity.

J. H. Heaton, Australian Dictionary of Dates; P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography; C. A. Bernays, Queensland Politics during Sixty Years; The Year Book of Australia, 1889 to 1906.