Arthur Alfred Lynch (1861 - 1934)

Born 16 Oct 1861 in Smythesdale, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Died 25 Mar 1934 at age 72 in Paddington, London, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

A hefty man, strikingly handsome, of charm, courtesy and even temper, Lynch was one of the most picturesque figures of his time. He was erratic in his grasp of public affairs but was generally respected for his integrity and extraordinary range of knowledge, and was on friendly terms with many great contemporaries. He had no doubt that his was one of the outstanding minds of the age. Survived by his wife, childless, he died at Paddington, London, on 25 March 1934.

Arthur Alfred Lynch (1861-1934), who went to Europe and became a journalist, poet, and politician (representing Irish interests). He entered the Boer War, although he joined the Boers, rather than fighting for the British, and was appointed as a colonel in charge of a force of foreign volunteers (many of whom were Irish). During the war he was elected, in his absence, as the Irish Nationalist member for Galway, and he later brazenly traveled to England to take up his seat in parliament. He landed in England in June 1902 and was immediately arrested and charged with treason, despite his protestations of being Australian, and sentenced to death. Luckily for him, a large-scale campaign resulted in the sentence being commuted to life imprisonment; he was released a year later, and subsequently received a pardon. Arthur Lynch went on to become the elected member of parliament for West Clare in 1909.

Occupation

• autobiographer/memoirist
• general practitioner
• journalist
• novelist
• poet

He was regarded by many as the most brilliant and versatile Australian of his time. While a child, he spent such a prolonged stay with his Scottish grandparents in Ballarat East that he developed a strong Scottish accent which amused his brothers when he finally returned home; presumably the stay in Ballarat East saved him from contracting diphtheria. Arthur Lynch became an outstanding runner in a period when Smythesdale was a centre for athletics. Ferdinand Hauer, a draftsman whose nickname was “Fernal”, was employed by John Lynch as his deputy mining registrar. In his memoirs, Arthur Lynch claimed that Ferdinand Hauer was useless to his father, who continued to pay him a salary by getting him to teach German to two of his sons, Paul and Arthur. As Arthur wrote, “That had an influence on my subsequent career”. There were a number of Germans in Smythesdale in the 1860s and 1870s, as indicated by the fact that there was a Lutheran church at the southern end of the town, and a Lutheran section in the cemetery where there are more than sixty burials of Germans. One prominent family was headed by Philipp Hauser who ran the local grocery shop opposite the Post Office, where Ferdinand used to send young Arthur for purchases, all transactions to be conducted in German. Arthur Lynch attended Grenville College in Ballarat as a boarder, where he matriculated for Melbourne University. In 1878 he began studying the certificate course in civil engineering there, finishing in 1882 with second-class honours He gained his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1885, then his Master’s degree in 1887. He then left these shores for Europe, never to return. Arthur Lynch was as fluent in French and German as in English. He was the first Australian student enrolled at the University of Berlin, where he studied philosophy, physics and psychology in 1888 and 1889. While in Berlin, he met Annie Powell an Irish student whom he was to marry seven years later. He then lived in France, where he attended the University of Paris, gaining a diploma in electrical engineering, which he would have studied in French. In 1895, he married Annie, the daughter of Reverend John D. Powell, which Arthur later described as a union “that never lost its happiness”. He then went to London where, after a struggle, he became a journalist. In 1899 he received commissions from London, Paris and American newspapers to report for them on the Boer war in South Africa. He travelled on a German ship the “Hertzog” which was held up by a British warship outside Durban, but was allowed to proceed after investigation which also involved the questioning of Arthur Lynch regarding his intentions. He met General Botha in Johannesburg, which resulted in his giving up journalism. He was given the rank of colonel and became the leader of the Second Irish Brigade, a motley band of about seventy volunteers of diverse nationalities. The brigade, among other action, was present at the skirmishing engagement that pushed back the Australian scouts advancing across the Klip River towards Baragwanath just prior to the fall of Johannesburg. After six months in the field, the Second Irish Brigade disbanded.

Arthur Lynch was sent to America to enlist support for the Boer cause but this didn’t eventuate, and after the collapse of the Boer resistance, Arthur Lynch went to Paris where he resumed his studies in engineering and philosophy and began studying medicine at the Hospital Beaujon. In the meantime a vacancy occurred in the constituency of Galway in Ireland and Arthur Lynch was asked to stand, and won the election by a big margin. The British Government immediately retaliated by issuing a warrant for his arrest on the charge of treason, which prevented him from taking his seat. When the Boer War ended, Arthur Lynch thought the time seemed opportune to make a bid to return to England. However, when he arrived in England to take his seat in the House of Commons he was arrested at Dover on 11th June 1902 and committed for trial for high treason. After spending eight months in gaol Arthur Lynch was put on trial in January 1903, and was found guilty of taking up arms against his country and of ordering those serving under him to fire on British soldiers - and he was sentenced to be hanged. After representations on his behalf, King Edward VII granted him a pardon, and the sentence of death was commuted to one of life imprisonment. But after serving one year of his sentence he was released in 1904 and granted a free pardon in 1907. Arthur Lynch took up medical studies at St Mary’s Paddington, graduating from the University of London in 1908 as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians. He was elected again to represent West Clare, and this time took up his seat in the House of Commons at Westminster in 1909. When the First World War broke out in 1914 he offered his services to the Australian Government but was rejected, possibly because of his age, now being 53 years old. Then the British Government appointed him to placate the Irish extremists; in fact his specific task was to raise an Irish brigade to fight for Britain on the Western Front. This caused the Irish to turn against him, and he became so unpopular that in 1918 he lost his seat in Parliament. He retired from politics and concentrated on his medical practice as a physician and surgeon, and his studies in scientific and literary works. His practice and home was at 80 Antrim Mansions, Haverstock Hill, Hampstead, London. He was the author of nearly thirty books, which included works as diverse as literary criticism, psychology, an attack on Einstein’s theory of relativity, and love poetry, including two novels and five volumes of verse. When Arthur died in St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington on 25th March, 1934 at the age of 72 years, he was buried in London. So, Arthur Lynch was: a physician and surgeon, a civil engineer, an electrical engineer, a philosopher, an author, a journalist, a soldier, a poet and a politician. He was also the only Australian ever sentenced to death for high treason in England. No wonder it was claimed by many at the time of his death that he was Ballarat’s most brilliant son, and one of the most romantic and adventurous Australians of all time.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/westminster-expelled-two-aussies-tried-to-hang-one-then-let-him-back-in/news-story/fe9a61eb75ef93f373b931df539ed8e5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Lynch_(politician)

Sources

• http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lynch-arthur-alfred-7270

Joan Hunt Ballarat Link May 2006 - No. 149