{{Short description|Australian politician & Australia dual-code rugby international player}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = '''The Hon''' | name = John Arthur Fihelly | image = StateLibQld 1 112272 John A. Fihelly, 1920.jpg | caption = | order = 25th | office = Treasurer of Queensland | term_start = 9 March 1920 | term_end = 8 February 1922 | predecessor = Ted Theodore | successor = Ted Theodore | constituency = Paddington | majority =

| constituency_AM1 = Paddington | assembly1 = Queensland Legislative | term_start1 = 27 April 1912 | term_end1 = 7 February 1922 | predecessor1 = New seat | successor1 = Alfred Jones

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1882|11|7|df=y}} | birth_place = Timoleague, County Cork, Ireland | death_date = {{Death date and age|1945|3|2|1882|11|7|df=y}} | death_place = Brisbane, Queensland | resting_place = Toowong Cemetery | party = Labor Party | spouse = Marguerite Agnes Murphy | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = Agent-General, Journalist, Public servant, Rugby league Administrator | relations = Peter Murphy (father-in-law) | profession = | module = {{Infobox rugby league biography | embed = yes | first = RU | ru_position = Flanker | ru_yearAstart = 1907 | ru_teamA = Australia | ru_appearancesA = 1 | ru_pointsA = 0 | position = {{rlp|SR|PR|LK}} | yearAstart = 1908 | teamA = Queensland | appearancesA = 16 | pointsA = 0 }} }}

'''John Arthur Fihelly''' (7 November 1882 – 2 March 1945) was a public servant, politician, rugby union & rugby league player in Queensland, Australia. He was the Treasurer of Queensland. He represented Australia as a professional rugby league footballer and a founder of the Queensland Rugby League.<ref name="adb">{{cite web |last1=Crouchley |first1=Betty |title=Australian Dictionary of Biography, Fihelly, John Arthur (1882-1945) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/fihelly-john-arthur-6169 |access-date=15 August 2022 |website=www.adb.anu.edu.au |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001235959/https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/fihelly-john-arthur-6169 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Early life==

Fihelly was born in Timoleague, County Cork, Ireland. The family emigrated to Australia the following year. He was educated at the Petrie Terrace State School and St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, until 1895. He then joined the post office as a telegraph messenger. He eventually transferred to the Department of Trade and Customs.<ref name="adb"/>

==Rugby==

Fihelly was a rugby union flanker.<ref name="scrum" >{{cite web|url=http://www.espnscrum.com/australia/rugby/player/1916.html|title=Scrum.com player profile of Jack Fihelly|publisher=Scrum.com|access-date=12 July 2010|archive-date=31 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131013620/http://www.espnscrum.com/australia/rugby/player/1916.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and claimed one international rugby union cap for Australia, in 1907.<ref name="scrum" /> He then became one of rugby league football's founding players in Brisbane, being selected to represent Queensland during the 1907–08 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain against the visiting "All Blacks" in what were the first games of rugby league football ever played in Queensland. In 1908 he traveled to Britain on the first rugby league Kangaroo tour as assistant manager.<ref name="adb"/> Fihelly represented Queensland in rugby union 1905–07 against New South Wales.<ref name="adb"/>

==Politics==

Fihelly got his start in 1908 when he joined the Department of Trade and Customs as a junior clerk in its State office. In 1918 Fihelly was made secretary of railways.

He was elected as the Labor member for Paddington in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in 1912<ref name="qp">{{cite web|title=Former Members|publisher=Parliament of Queensland|year=2015|url=http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/members/former/bio?id=2186961562|access-date=24 January 2015|archive-date=28 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128115354/http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/members/former/bio?id=2186961562|url-status=live}}</ref> and held several ministerial roles including Attorney-General and Treasurer until his resignation in 1922.<ref name="qp" />

==Later life== Fihelly died of a cerebral thrombosis on 2 March 1945. He deteriorated for years after fracturing his skull in September 1926 in an accident at Sandgate. Before dying, Fihelly spent time in the Dunwich Benevolent Institution.<ref name="adb"/>

Upon his death in 1945, Fihelly was rewarded with a State funeral<ref name="adb" /> at St Stephen's Cathedral<ref name="courier">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48966608|title=Funeral notices.|newspaper=The Courier-Mail|location=Brisbane|date=5 March 1945|access-date=6 January 2015|page=6|publisher=National Library of Australia|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331061538/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48966608|url-status=live}}</ref> and was buried in Toowong Cemetery.<ref name="courier" /><ref name="bcc">[https://online.brisbane.qld.gov.au/cemeteries/cemeteries_step3.jsp?mapdisplay=188652 Fihelly John Arthur] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608012011/https://online.brisbane.qld.gov.au/cemeteries/cemeteries_step3.jsp?mapdisplay=188652 |date= 8 June 2012 }} – Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 5 January 2015.</ref> [[File:Kangaroos 1908.jpg|centre|thumb|500px|Fihelly back row, bowler hat with a group of the 1908 Kangaroos]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box| title=Treasurer of Queensland| before=Ted Theodore| after= Ted Theodore| years=1920&ndash;1922}} {{s-par|au-qld }} {{s-new|seat}} {{s-ttl|title = Member for Paddington|years=1912&ndash;1922}} {{s-aft| after = Alfred Jones}} {{s-end}}

{{Treasurers of Queensland}} {{1908-09 Kangaroo Tour squad - The First Kangaroos}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fihelly, Jack}} Category:1882 births Category:1945 deaths Category:20th-century Australian politicians Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen Category:Attorneys-general of Queensland Category:Australia international rugby union players Category:Australian rugby league administrators Category:Australian rugby league players Category:Australian rugby union players Category:Burials at Toowong Cemetery Category:Deputy premiers of Queensland Category:Footballers who switched code Category:Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Category:People educated at St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace Category:People from Timoleague Category:Queensland rugby league team players Category:Queensland rugby union team players Category:Rugby league locks Category:Rugby league players from County Cork Category:Rugby league props Category:Rugby league second-rows Category:Rugby union flankers Category:Rugby union players from County Cork Category:Treasurers of Queensland