# Neil MacGroarty

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{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name             = Neil MacGroarty
| honorific_suffix = 
| image            = StateLibQld 1 68819 Neil MacGroarty, 1924.jpg
| caption          = 
| office           = [Attorney-General of Queensland](/source/Attorney-General_of_Queensland)
| premier          = [Arthur Moore](/source/Arthur_Edward_Moore)
| term_start       = 21 May 1929
| term_end         = 17 Jun 1932
| predecessor      = [John Mullan](/source/John_Mullan_(Australian_politician))
| successor        = [John Mullan](/source/John_Mullan_(Australian_politician))
| constituency     = [South Brisbane](/source/Electoral_district_of_South_Brisbane)
| constituency_AM1 = [South Brisbane](/source/Electoral_district_of_South_Brisbane)
| assembly1        = Queensland Legislative
| term_start1      = 11 May 1929
| term_end1        = 11 June 1932
| predecessor1     = [Myles Ferricks](/source/Myles_Ferricks)
| successor1       = [Vince Gair](/source/Vince_Gair)
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1888|5|1|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [Brisbane](/source/Brisbane), [Queensland](/source/Queensland), Australia
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1971|8|10|1888|5|1|df=y}}
| death_place      = [South Brisbane](/source/South_Brisbane), [Queensland](/source/Queensland), Australia
| resting_place    = [Toowong Cemetery](/source/Toowong_Cemetery)
| birth_name       = Neil Francis MacGroarty
| party            = [Country and Progressive National Party](/source/Country_and_Progressive_National_Party)
| other_party      = 
| spouse           = {{marriage|Doreen Mary Joseph|1929}}
| children         = 
| occupation       = [Solicitor](/source/Solicitor)
| relations        = 
| alma_mater       =  
}}

'''Neil Francis MacGroarty''' (1 May 1888 – 10 August 1971) was a [solicitor](/source/solicitor) and a member of the [Queensland Legislative Assembly](/source/Queensland_Legislative_Assembly).<ref name=qp>{{cite web|title=Former Members|publisher=[Parliament of Queensland](/source/Parliament_of_Queensland)|year=2015|url=http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/members/former/bio?id=704416568|accessdate= 6 June 2015}}</ref>

==Early life==
MacGroarty was born in Jane Street, [South Brisbane](/source/South_Brisbane),<ref name=birth>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3474620 |title=Family Notices. |newspaper=[The Brisbane Courier](/source/The_Brisbane_Courier) |date=7 May 1888 |accessdate=6 June 2015 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> [Queensland](/source/Queensland), to Irish-born parents Daniel Cannon MacGroarty, inspector of schools, and his wife Anna Maria (née Kearney).<ref name=adb>[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/macgroarty-neil-francis-7365 Macgroarty, Neil Francis (1888–1971)] &ndash; ''[Australian Dictionary of Biography](/source/Australian_Dictionary_of_Biography)''. Retrieved 6 June 2015.</ref> Educated at [St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace](/source/St_Joseph's_College%2C_Gregory_Terrace) and [Nudgee College](/source/Nudgee_College), he entered into articles of clerkship with Patrick O'Sullivan before being admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1911.<ref name=adb/> MacGroarty became O'Sullivan's business partner for eight years and in 1919 he transferred to the bar where he practiced from the old Inns of Court building in [Adelaide Street](/source/Adelaide_Street%2C_Brisbane).<ref name=adb/>
 
==Political career==
At the [1929 election](/source/1929_Queensland_state_election), MacGroarty, the [Country and Progressive National Party](/source/Country_and_Progressive_National_Party) candidate, defeated [Labor's](/source/Australian_Labor_Party_(Queensland_Branch)) [Myles Ferricks](/source/Myles_Ferricks) to win the seat of [South Brisbane](/source/Electoral_district_of_South_Brisbane).<ref name=1929election>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21405271 |title=POLLING SUMMARY. |newspaper=[The Brisbane Courier](/source/The_Brisbane_Courier) |date=13 May 1929 |accessdate=6 June 2015 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He was immediately appointed [attorney general](/source/attorney_general) and in his [maiden speech](/source/maiden_speech) he attracted controversy when, after being interjected, he stated that the Queensland Court of Industrial Arbitration would be "ringbarked" as soon as possible.<ref name=adb/>

In April 1930, a [Royal Commission](/source/Royal_Commission) was held into the purchase of the [Mungana](/source/Mungana) mines and Chillagoe smelters by the Queensland Government in what became known as the [Mungana affair](/source/Mungana_affair). The former owners included Peter Goddard and Fred Reid as well as then [Queensland Premier](/source/Queensland_Premier), 
[Ted Theodore](/source/Ted_Theodore) and future Premier, [Bill McCormack](/source/William_McCormack). Macgroarty opened the crown submissions and, after the commissioner, former Justice James Campbell, found the transactions to be fraudulent, MacGroarty, for the crown, sued the four men for £30,000 damages before [Chief Justice](/source/Chief_Justice_of_Queensland) Sir [James Blair](/source/James_Blair_(Australian_judge)) of the [Supreme Court of Queensland](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Queensland).<ref name=mungana>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21721407 |title=MUNGANA CASE. |newspaper=[The Brisbane Courier](/source/The_Brisbane_Courier) |date=23 July 1931 |accessdate=6 June 2015 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The four member jury went on to find in favour of the defendants.
left|thumb|Queensland Rugby Union Junior Committee, 1907. MacGroarty is on the left of the back row.
In his time as attorney general MacGroarty introduced the ''Companies Act of 1931'', and the controversial ''Judicial Proceedings (Regulations of Reports) Act of 1931''. The latter was regarded as an attempt to protect public morals, but was seen by the Labor Party as a personal vendetta against Brisbane ''[Truth](/source/Truth_(Brisbane_newspaper))'' newspaper. By the time of the [1932 election](/source/1932_Queensland_state_election), MacGroarty had fallen out with important Catholic elements and lost his seat<ref name=defeated>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21982749 |title=Noted Defeated Members. |newspaper=[The Brisbane Courier](/source/The_Brisbane_Courier) |date=13 June 1932 |accessdate=6 June 2015 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> to Labor's [Vince Gair](/source/Vince_Gair).<ref>{{cite news |title=One of the Closest Contests in the History of Queensland |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/21982757/1688098 |accessdate=2019-12-07 |work=The Brisbane Courier |date=1932-06-13}}</ref> Macgroarty left politics bitterly disillusioned and resumed his law practice until his retirement.<ref name=adb/>

==Personal life==
On 21 December 1929, MacGroarty married Doreen Mary Joseph (died 1985)<ref name=bdm>[https://www.qld.gov.au/law/births-deaths-marriages-and-divorces/family-history-research/ Family history research] &mdash; [Queensland Government births, deaths, marriages, and divorces](/source/Queensland_Government). Retrieved 6 June 2015.</ref> at [St. Mary's Catholic Church, South Brisbane](/source/St._Mary's_Catholic_Church%2C_South_Brisbane)<ref name=wedding>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article97660827 |title=Weddings. |newspaper=[Sunday Mail](/source/The_Sunday_Mail_(Brisbane)) |location=Brisbane |date=22 December 1929 |accessdate=6 June 2015 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and together had three sons and two daughters.<ref name=qp/> He was captain of the senior football team at Nudgee College<ref name=qp/> and executive-member of the [Queensland Rugby Union](/source/Queensland_Rugby_Union).<ref name=adb/>

A former president of the Queensland Irish Association<ref name=adb/> and a member of the [Johnsonian Club](/source/Johnsonian_Club), MacGroarty died at South Brisbane in August 1971. His funeral proceeded from St Ignatius' Church, [Toowong](/source/Toowong), to the [Toowong Cemetery](/source/Toowong_Cemetery).<ref name=adb/><ref name=bcc>[https://online.brisbane.qld.gov.au/cemeteries/cemeteries_step3.jsp?mapdisplay= 179297 Macgroarty Neil Francis] &mdash; Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 6 June 2015.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title=[Attorney-General of Queensland](/source/Attorney-General_of_Queensland) | before=[John Mullan](/source/John_Mullan_(Australian_politician)) | after=[John Mullan](/source/John_Mullan_(Australian_politician)) | years=1929&ndash;1932}}
{{s-par |au-qld}}
{{s-bef|before=[Myles Ferricks](/source/Myles_Ferricks)}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member for [South Brisbane](/source/Electoral_district_of_South_Brisbane)|years=1929&ndash;1932}}
{{s-aft|after=[Vince Gair](/source/Vince_Gair)}}
{{s-end}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacGroarty, Neil}}
Category:Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
Category:1888 births
Category:1971 deaths
Category:Burials at Toowong Cemetery
Category:20th-century Australian politicians
Category:People educated at St Joseph's College, Nudgee
Category:People educated at St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Neil MacGroarty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_MacGroarty) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_MacGroarty?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.