Family background
Austin James Kenny was born in 1865 at Timaru in the Canterbury Province of New Zealand, the son of Irish immigrants James Hoare Kenny and Elizabeth Curtin. James Kenny was born in County Meath, Ireland, in 1838, and emigrated to the South Island of New Zealand, marrying Elizabeth Curtin in Invercargill on 14 November 1863. The Kenny family eventually settled in the town of Timaru, where James Kenny worked as a butcher and died in 1909. Elizabeth Kenny died in Gisborne in 1900.
After emigrating from New Zealand to NSW via Auckland in 1884, A J Kenny married Mary Christina Connolly (1870-1950), the daughter of Irish immigrants, in Sydney in 1893. By 1896, they lived at 39 Gurner Street, Paddington, and the pair had four children together: Austin Bernard (b1895), Thomas James Bede (b1896), Ellen Berenece (b1898), and Edward Desmond (b1909).
His second son, known as Bede Kenny, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1915, and was a recipient of the Victoria Cross for his actions with the 2nd Australian Infantry Battalion on the Western Front in France in 1917.
A J Kenny died at the age of 49 on 10 July 1915, at the Mansion House Hotel, George Street, Haymarket, with his death later declared by the City Coroner to be suicide. He was buried on 13 July 1915 at Rookwood Catholic Cemetery.
Occupation & interests
Austin Kenny conducted business as a butcher in Paddington and by 1900, was listed at the corner of Heeley and Broughton Streets, Paddington. In April 1901 he was declared bankrupt, forcing his premature resignation as an alderman.
With his bankruptcy discharged in late 1901, Kenny returned to his business and was elected to the executive committee of the Master Butchers Association of NSW in 1902 and 1903.
Community activity
In March 1900, Austin Kenny presided over the establishment of a committee with the purpose of assisting Paddington Council on appropriate measures for checking the spread of bubonic plague in the municipality.
Kenny was a member of the Paddington District Cricket Club, Paddington Baseball Club, and Paddington Branch of the Australian Natives’ Association. He was a foundation member of the Paddington Australian Football Club when it formed in 1903.
Local government service
Austin Kenny was first elected as an alderman for the Middle Ward of the Borough of Paddington at the February 1901 municipal election, succeeding the retiring alderman, James Dillon. His initial term on council was short-lived as he resigned on 18 April 1901 following his bankruptcy, triggering a by-election in Middle Ward. Kenny stood at this by-election against his predecessor, Dillon, on 6 May 1901, but was narrowly defeated, receiving 152 votes to Dillon’s 162.
Kenny stood again in the Paddington borough elections held on 9 February 1903, filling the extraordinary vacancy in Glenmore Ward created by the resignation of Robert Usher. He was re-elected for an additional term at the February 1904 election.
In August 1904, Kenny announced that he would stand for the by-election of the Belmore Ward of the City of Sydney, triggered by the resignation of John Daniel Fitzgerald. However, his name did not appear in the final list of nominees.
Kenny resigned as an alderman part-way through his term in August 1906 and was replaced by William Moore.
References
Compiled and researched by Andrew Beveridge, 2024
The information about this alderman was compiled in collaboration with Woollahra Library and Information Service.
‘Advertising’, The Australian Star, 5 February 1904, p. 1, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229288803
Higgins, Matthew, ‘Kenny, Thomas James Bede (1896–1953)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kenny-thomas-james-bede-6935/text12033, published first in hardcopy 1983, accessed online 29 June 2024.
Sands Directories: Sydney and New South Wales, Australia, 1858–1933. W. & F. Pascoe Pty, Ltd. Balgowlah, Australia.
‘Fatalities and Accidents – A Fatal Wound’, The Daily Telegraph, 13 July 1915, p. 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238913320
‘Casualties. Verdicts of Suicide’, Sydney Morning Herald, 16 July 1915, p. 6, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15590917
‘Two Suicides – Inquests by the Coroner’, The Sun, 15 July 1915, p. 5, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221928324
Deceased Search (Reg No. 22157818), Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria, https://catholiccemeteries.com.au/deceased-search/
‘In Bankruptcy’, New South Wales Government Gazette, 19 April 1901, No. 329, p. 3195, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226382892
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In Bankruptcy’, New South Wales Government Gazette, 8 October 1901, No. 841, p. 7808, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226387503
‘Master Butchers. Annual Meeting of the Association’, The Daily Telegraph, 3 October 1902, p. 8, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236824132
‘Master Butchers Association’, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 October 1903, p. 12, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14566995
‘Meeting at Paddington. A Vigilance Committee Formed’, Sydney Morning Herald, 31 March 1900, p. 10, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14303089
‘Cricket. Padding District Cricket Club’, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 July 1900, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14326961
‘Paddington Baseball Club’, Australian Town and Country Journal, 31 May 1902, p. 26, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71524695
‘Australian Natives’ Association’, The Daily Telegraph, 27 September 1901, p. 7, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237366592
‘Australian Natives. Paddington Branch Annual’, The Daily Telegraph, 28 June 1902, p. 18, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237610550
‘Football. The Australian Game’, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 February 1903, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14490882
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‘Borough of Paddington’, New South Wales Government Gazette, 19 February 1901, No. 135, p. 1317, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226375820
‘Municipal Elections. Retiring Aldermen and Auditors’, The Daily Telegraph, 11 January 1901, p. 7, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240138916
‘Brevities’, Evening News, 18 April 1901, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112561044
‘Municipal Elections. Borough of Paddington’, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 April 1901, p. 7, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14354378
‘Borough of Paddington’, Sydney Morning Herald, 7 May 1901, p. 5, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14375668
‘Borough of Paddington.’, New South Wales Government Gazette, 10 May 1901, No. 397, p. 3793, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226377257
‘Municipal Elections. Paddington’, Sydney Morning Herald, 7 February 1903, p. 10, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14485719
‘Borough of Paddington’, New South Wales Government Gazette, 20 February 1903, No. 94, p. 1529, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220261721
‘Borough of Paddington’, New South Wales Government Gazette, 16 February 1904, No. 93, p. 1402, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221031369
‘Municipality of Paddington’, New South Wales Government Gazette, 15 August 1906, No. 209, p. 4700, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226574846
The Sunday Sun, 14 August 1904, p. 6, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230032039
‘Advertising. Municipal Elections’, Evening News, 22 August 1904, p. 1, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113294417