Mr Simon HICKEY (1878 - 1958)**

Date of Birth: 06/06/1878 Place of Birth: Botobolar, near Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia Date of Death: 18/05/1958 Place of Death: Bellevue Hill, New South Wales, Australia

Parliamentary Service

Position Start End Period Notes Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 18 May 1912 17 Feb 1922 9yr(s) 9mth(s) Member of the NSW Legislative Council 21 Dec 1925 22 Apr 1934 8yr(s) 4mth(s) 2day(s) Life Appointment under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 21 December 1925. Member for Alexandria 18 May 1912 6 Nov 1913 1yr(s) 5mth(s) 20day(s) 22nd (1910 - 1913) Member for Alexandria 6 Dec 1913 21 Feb 1917 3yr(s) 2mth(s) 16day(s) 23rd (1913 - 1917) Member for Alexandria 24 Mar 1917 18 Feb 1920 2yr(s) 10mth(s) 26day(s) 24th (1917 - 1920) Member for Botany 20 Mar 1920 17 Feb 1922 1yr(s) 10mth(s) 29day(s) 25th (1920 - 1922) Speaker of the Legislative Assembly 13 Dec 1921 20 Dec 1921 8day(s) The Governor’s Opening Speech Committee No.1 23 Jul 1912 23 Jul 1912 1day 22nd (1910 - 1913) The Governor’s Opening Speech Committee No.1 23 Jul 1912 23 Jul 1912 1day 22nd (1910 - 1913) Governor's Opening Speech Committee No. 1 3 Mar 1914 3 Mar 1914 1day 23rd (1913 - 1917) Profession of Public Accountants Committee No. 7 8 Dec 1914 23 Feb 1915 2mths 16days 23rd (1913 - 1917) Library Committee No. 6 2 Jul 1915 13 Apr 1916 9mths 12days 23rd (1913 - 1917) Library Committee No. 5 28 Jul 1916 21 Dec 1916 4mths 24days 23rd (1913 - 1917) Church of England Trust Property Bill Committee No. 8 30 Nov 1916 21 Dec 1916 22days 23rd (1913 - 1917)

Political Party Activity

Australian Labor Party (ALP). Joined in c.1900, President of Redfern Leagues Club, secretary of parliamentary party from 1912 until 1915

Community Activity

Commissioned as a Justice of the Peace in 1912.

Qualifications, occupations and interests

Saddler and leather goods manufacturer. Childhood spent on selection at Botobolar until 1882, then at Menah where father worked for G.H Cox; moved to Auburn in 1890; educated at country and Auburn public schools; left school at thirteen to assist as a drayman; worked in hotel before becoming apprenticed to the saddlery trade in Mudgee in 1893; worked in Sydney for a saddlery firm which failed; started own leather goods business in 1908, later became Simon Hickey Industries Limited; involved after 1914 war in an unsuccessful attempt to establish a silk spinning industry; in youth became a member of Australian Natives Association, publisher of the paper; member of cremation society in 1907; contributor to Bulletin, published autobiography in 1951.

Personal

Son of Patrick Hickey, agricultural labourer, from United States of America and Ireland, selector, and Mary Swift. Married Hilda Ellen Dacey in c.1909 and had issue, 1 daughter and 2 sons. Son in law of J.R Dacey, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Botany. Roman Catholic. Funeral at Botany cemetery from St Anne's Roman Catholic shrine, Bondi.

Additional Information

Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9 Personal papers in the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales: Simon Hickey - correspondence received from Henry Lawson and Thomas Davies Mutch, 1914 - 1922 (MLMSS 6789); photographs in the PICMAN Database. Text from the book: 'The Presiding Officers of the Parliament of New South Wales', Sydney, 1995

Simon Hickey was born on 6 June 1878 at Mudgee in New South Wales. He joined the Labor Party at about the turn of the century, becoming president of the party's South Sydney branch in 1906. He married Hilda Darcey in 1911 and they had two sons and one daughter. He entered the Legislative Assembly in May 1912, succeeding his late father-in-law, J.R. Darcey as the Member for Alexandria. He held that seat until 1920 when he became the Member for Botany. Between 1920 and 1921 he was Chairman of the Public Works Committee and in December 1921 he held the office of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly for a record eight days. His term as Speaker was cut short by the election crisis involving the Dooley and Fuller governments. Subsequently, he took a seat in the Legislative Council from 1925 until 1934 when the Council was reconstituted. Hickey was considered to possess an independent streak with a tendency for forthright and candid opinions. His individualism was the cause of controversy with in his own party as he voted across party lines on several occasions. He died on 18 May 1958 at Bellevue Hill in Sydney.

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