Denis Doherty

Denis Doherty
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia
In office 4 May 1897 – August 1903
Preceded by	Matthew Moss
Succeeded by	John Ferguson
Constituency	North Fremantle
Personal details
Born	1861 Newry, County Armagh, Ireland
Died	23 October 1935 (aged 74) Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia
Political party	Independent

Denis Joseph Doherty (1861 – 23 October 1935) was an Australian businessman, pastoralist, and politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1897 to 1903, representing the seat of North Fremantle.

Doherty was born in Newry, County Armagh, Ireland (in present-day Northern Ireland). He arrived in Australia in 1882, settling in Sydney. In 1886, he moved to Wyndham, a small town in Western Australia's Kimberley region, with a schoolmate from Ireland, Francis Connor. They went into partnership together, initially supplying goods to the Kimberley goldfields, and later went into the live cattle trade, acquiring two pastoral leases in the Northern Territory (Newry Station and Auvergne Station). In 1897, Connor and Doherty merged their business with that of Michael Durack, forming Connor, Doherty & Durack.^[1][2]

Doherty first stood for parliament at the 1895 North Fremantle by-election, but was defeated by Matthew Moss. He stood again at the 1897 general election, and defeated three other candidates.^[3] He did not live in the area, but had business interests there.^[4] Doherty was re-elected at the 1901 election, but resigned from parliament in August 1903 to travel to England on business. The resuting by-election was won by John Ferguson. Doherty returned to Australia in 1930, and died in Perth in 1935, aged 74. He had married Georgina Cable in 1888, with whom he had six children.^[1]

References

1. Denis Joseph Doherty – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
2. Francis Connor – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
3. Black, David; Prescott, Valerie (1997). Election statistics : Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996. Perth, [W.A.]: Western Australian Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission. ISBN 0730984095.
4. "NORTH FREMANTLE.", The Inquirer and Commercial News, 2 April 1897.