John Macrossan
Member of theQueensland Legislative Assembly forKennedy
In office 25 November 1873 – 28 November 1878
Preceded by	Edward MacDevitt
Succeeded by	Henry Palmer
Member of theQueensland Legislative Assembly forTownsville
In office 4 March 1879 – 30 March 1891 Serving with William Brown,Robert Philp
Preceded by	John Deane
Succeeded by	William Brown
Personal details
Born	John Murtagh Macrossan 1832 (1832) Creeslough,County Donegal, Ireland
Died	30 March 1891(1891-03-30) (aged 58–59) Sydney, Australia
Resting place	Nudgee Cemetery
Spouse	Bridget Queely
Relations	Hugh Denis Macrossan (son),Neal Macrossan (son),John Murtagh Macrossan (grandson)
Occupation	Goldminer,Catholic lay leader

John Murtagh Macrossan (1832 – 30 March 1891)^[1] was an Australian politician of the late 19th century in theparliament of Queensland.

Macrossan was born inCounty Donegal, Ireland.^[1] He moved to the colony ofVictoria at the age of 21 to work on the gold diggings.^[1] Twelve years later he moved toNorth Queensland where he became well known among the miners. In 1873 he organised theRavenswood Miners Protection Association.

In 1873, was elected a member of theQueensland Legislative Assembly for theKennedy electoral district.^[1] He championed the causes of regulation of the mining industry and Separatism ofNorth Queensland as a separate colony. From January 1879 he was member forTownsville and secretary for public works and for mines in the first and secondMcIlwraith Ministries. In January 1890 Macrossan became the Colonial Secretary in theMorehead government.

In thefirst McIlwraith Ministry, Macrossan successfully introduced the first mining regulations inQueensland on his third attempt in 1881. In 1889 Macrossan expanded upon this success by introducing new regulations which included provisions for a system of inspections by representatives of the miners.

After advocating on the issue for many years, in October 1890 Macrossan brought forward a motion to bring about the separation of the north. Then PremierSamuel Griffith moved an amendment that it was desirable to have separate legislative authorities in southern, northern and central Queensland, which was carried. However, in the 1890sRegionalism became less of a focus as Federalism became closer to attainment. In February 1890 Macrossan attended the conference on federation held at Melbourne with Griffith, who was then leader of the opposition, and in 1891 he was one of the Queensland representatives to thefirst Constitutional Convention.

Four weeks after the conference opened he died, on 30 March 1891. Following a funeral atSt Stephen's Cathedral, Macrossan was buried inNudgee Cemetery.^[2]

• Serle, Percival (1949)."Macrossan, John Murtagh".Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney:Angus & Robertson.
• Waterson, Duncan Bruce:Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament 1860–1929 (second edition), Sydney 2001.
• Joyce R.B. & Murphy, D.J.(Ed.):Queensland Political Portraits, St Lucia (University of Queensland Press), 1978.
• Bryan, Harrison."Macrossan, John Murtagh (1833–1891)".Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography,Australian National University.ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7.ISSN 1833-7538.OCLC 70677943. Retrieved22 November 2012.

• 1832 births
• 1891 deaths
• Politicians from the Colony of Queensland
• People from North Queensland
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
• Politicians from County Donegal
• Australian people of Irish descent
• 19th-century Australian politicians

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