Thomas Lavelle

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Thomas James Lavelle was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1919 to 1922, representing the electorate of Calare. Lavelle was born into a farming family in the Cowra district. His father died when he was aged 18, leaving him to support his mother and six younger siblings. He worked the family farm successfully while also taking on work as a shearer and bush worker to supplement the income from the farm. He also worked as an organiser for the Australian Workers' Union for several years. He campaigned against conscription during the 1916 and 1917 referendums and was the unsuccessful Labor candidate for Calare at the 1917 election. He sold the farm and moved to Sydney when he was 32, around the time of his election to parliament. In 1919, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor member for Calare, defeating Nationalist MP Henry Pigott. Read more

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