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Joseph Lyons: The People's Prime Minister
As the first full biography of Joseph Lyons, this book recounts the life of the prime minister responsible for leading Australia through the Great Depression and beyond. A detailed account, it chronicles Lyons' beginnings as a Tasmanian Labor premier in the 1920s, his subsequent rise to fame within the Scullin Labor Cabinet, and the instrumental role he played in the formation of the United Australia Party. This biography will offer new insights into Joseph Lyons as well as the political structure that he helped shape.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published December 13, 2011
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About the author
Anne Henderson
8 books1 followerWriter, Deputy Director of The Sydney Institute, editor of The Sydney Papers and co-editor of The Sydney Institute Quarterly.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 19, 2024
‘He was Australia’s Depression Prime Minister, elected while unemployment levels neared 30 per cent.’
Some weeks ago, I read ‘Plans For Your Good: A Prime Minister's Testimony of God's Faithfulness’ by Scott Morrison. As I remarked in my comments on that book, there were two aspects that captured my attention. The first was Mr Morrison’s mention of Prime Minister Joe Lyons. This book by Ms Henderson was mentioned, and I borrowed a copy from my library. I am glad that I did. Ms Henderson’s biography of Joe Lyons is detailed, readable and contains a lot of new (to me) information.
Who was Joe Lyons?
Joseph Aloysius Lyons CH (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was born in Stanley, Tasmania. He was one of eight children born to Ellen and Michael Lyons. In 1891, his maternal aunts paid for his upkeep so he could go to the state school at Stanley. At 16, he became a pupil-teacher, completing his training in 1901. His first teaching posts were at tiny country schools in north-western Tasmania. In 1905, he transferred to Smithton as head teacher. In 1907, when he was 26, Lyons formally qualified at Tasmania’s new teacher training college in Hobart. In 1915, he married Enid Muriel Burnell.
Joseph Lyons began his political career in the Australian Labor Party and was the 26th Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928. In 1929, Lyons resigned from state parliament to enter federal politics. In Labor’s landslide victory on 12 October 1929, he was elected to the federal seat of Wilmot. Prime Minister James Scullin appointed Joseph Lyons to cabinet as the Postmaster-General of Australia and Minister for Works and Railways. In 1930, he was acting treasurer while Scullin was overseas, and came into conflict with the Labor caucus over the government's response to the Great Depression.
In early 1931, Lyons and his followers left Labor to sit as independents. A few months later his group merged with other opposition parties to form the United Australia Party and he was elected Leader of the Opposition. Lyons led the UAP to a landslide victory at the 1931 election.
He was Australia’s 10th Prime Minister serving from 6 January 1932 until his death on 7 April 1939.
I have visited both the Lyons cottage in Stanley and Home Hill in Devonport. I have also read Dame Enid’s memoirs, but I knew little about Joseph Lyons’s life before politics or much about his period as Premier of Tasmania. As an expatriate Tasmanian, I knew that some members of my family considered Joseph Lyons a traitor when he left the Labor Party. As a child, I never questioned this.
Ms Henderson provides a detailed account of Joseph Lyons’s early life, of his political activism, the challenges he faced as Tasmanian premier and, importantly, his partnership with his wife.
‘Lyons was undoubtedly one of Tasmania’s great premiers. He governed through economically difficult times, yet raised confidence even if he was unable to overcome the larger and more pressing problems of a state where growth was slow.’
Tasmania is a small state. As I read this book, I kept running into places I knew, people I knew of, and connections between spaces. I read that Joseph Lyons taught at Glen Dhu Primary School in 1908. The school was much bigger when I attended it in the 1960s, but the original classrooms (from 1895) were still in use.
Joseph Lyons was the first prime minister to win three successive elections and was one of only two prime ministers who had been state premiers (George Reid, in 1904, was the other).
Ms Henderson writes:
‘History has not been kind to Joe Lyons. Because he was a Labor man who crossed to the conservatives, Labor historians have undermined his record or ignored it. Because he was an outsider in the conservative team from 1931, Lyons’ time as United Australia Party Prime Minister would eventually be overshadowed by the formation of the Liberal Party in 1944 and the era of long serving Prime Minister Robert Menzies. Neither Liberal Party nor Labor Party would claim Joe Lyons.’
Based on what I have read, I agree.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Some weeks ago, I read ‘Plans For Your Good: A Prime Minister's Testimony of God's Faithfulness’ by Scott Morrison. As I remarked in my comments on that book, there were two aspects that captured my attention. The first was Mr Morrison’s mention of Prime Minister Joe Lyons. This book by Ms Henderson was mentioned, and I borrowed a copy from my library. I am glad that I did. Ms Henderson’s biography of Joe Lyons is detailed, readable and contains a lot of new (to me) information.
Who was Joe Lyons?
Joseph Aloysius Lyons CH (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was born in Stanley, Tasmania. He was one of eight children born to Ellen and Michael Lyons. In 1891, his maternal aunts paid for his upkeep so he could go to the state school at Stanley. At 16, he became a pupil-teacher, completing his training in 1901. His first teaching posts were at tiny country schools in north-western Tasmania. In 1905, he transferred to Smithton as head teacher. In 1907, when he was 26, Lyons formally qualified at Tasmania’s new teacher training college in Hobart. In 1915, he married Enid Muriel Burnell.
Joseph Lyons began his political career in the Australian Labor Party and was the 26th Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928. In 1929, Lyons resigned from state parliament to enter federal politics. In Labor’s landslide victory on 12 October 1929, he was elected to the federal seat of Wilmot. Prime Minister James Scullin appointed Joseph Lyons to cabinet as the Postmaster-General of Australia and Minister for Works and Railways. In 1930, he was acting treasurer while Scullin was overseas, and came into conflict with the Labor caucus over the government's response to the Great Depression.
In early 1931, Lyons and his followers left Labor to sit as independents. A few months later his group merged with other opposition parties to form the United Australia Party and he was elected Leader of the Opposition. Lyons led the UAP to a landslide victory at the 1931 election.
He was Australia’s 10th Prime Minister serving from 6 January 1932 until his death on 7 April 1939.
I have visited both the Lyons cottage in Stanley and Home Hill in Devonport. I have also read Dame Enid’s memoirs, but I knew little about Joseph Lyons’s life before politics or much about his period as Premier of Tasmania. As an expatriate Tasmanian, I knew that some members of my family considered Joseph Lyons a traitor when he left the Labor Party. As a child, I never questioned this.
Ms Henderson provides a detailed account of Joseph Lyons’s early life, of his political activism, the challenges he faced as Tasmanian premier and, importantly, his partnership with his wife.
‘Lyons was undoubtedly one of Tasmania’s great premiers. He governed through economically difficult times, yet raised confidence even if he was unable to overcome the larger and more pressing problems of a state where growth was slow.’
Tasmania is a small state. As I read this book, I kept running into places I knew, people I knew of, and connections between spaces. I read that Joseph Lyons taught at Glen Dhu Primary School in 1908. The school was much bigger when I attended it in the 1960s, but the original classrooms (from 1895) were still in use.
Joseph Lyons was the first prime minister to win three successive elections and was one of only two prime ministers who had been state premiers (George Reid, in 1904, was the other).
Ms Henderson writes:
‘History has not been kind to Joe Lyons. Because he was a Labor man who crossed to the conservatives, Labor historians have undermined his record or ignored it. Because he was an outsider in the conservative team from 1931, Lyons’ time as United Australia Party Prime Minister would eventually be overshadowed by the formation of the Liberal Party in 1944 and the era of long serving Prime Minister Robert Menzies. Neither Liberal Party nor Labor Party would claim Joe Lyons.’
Based on what I have read, I agree.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
September 13, 2022
I think this is the only full length biography of Joseph Lyons, a forgotten Prime Minister from the 1930s. He sounds like he has been vastly under-rated by history. He is dismissed as a lightweight dominated by his wife by most historians.
He started politics in the Labor Party and was Premier of Tasmania in the 1920s. He entered Federal politics and was in the Scullin cabinet when he resigned from the Labor Party and then created a new conservative party - the United Australia Party and became the Leader and then Prime Minister.
The author believes that he has been ignored ever since by the Labor Party because he left them and it's seen as a traitor. He is ignored by the UP because they disintegrated in 1943 and were replaced by the modern Liberal Party who also ignore him because he is seen as untrustworthy because of his Labor past!
This is a very interesting new perspective on Joseph Lyons.
He started politics in the Labor Party and was Premier of Tasmania in the 1920s. He entered Federal politics and was in the Scullin cabinet when he resigned from the Labor Party and then created a new conservative party - the United Australia Party and became the Leader and then Prime Minister.
The author believes that he has been ignored ever since by the Labor Party because he left them and it's seen as a traitor. He is ignored by the UP because they disintegrated in 1943 and were replaced by the modern Liberal Party who also ignore him because he is seen as untrustworthy because of his Labor past!
This is a very interesting new perspective on Joseph Lyons.
July 2, 2025
Excellent read about Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, the man who took Australia through the Great Depression. I enjoyed learning more about him and his leadership during that time.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews