King O'Malley
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The Honourable King O'Malley |
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| Member of the Australian Parliament for Tasmania |
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In office 29 March 1901 – 16 December 1903 Serving with Edward Braddon, Norman Cameron, Philip Fysh, Frederick Piesse/William Hartnoll |
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| Preceded by | New seat |
| Succeeded by | Division abolished |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Darwin |
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In office 16 December 1903 – 5 May 1917 |
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| Preceded by | New seat |
| Succeeded by | Charles Howroyd |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3/4 July 1854 possibly Quebec, Canada; possibly Kansas, United States |
| Died | 20 December 1953 (aged 99) Albert Park |
| Nationality | American Australian |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Spouse(s) | Rosy Wilmot, Amy Horton (also Garrod) |
| Occupation | Insurance salesman |
King O'Malley (3/4 July 1854 – 20 December 1953) was an Australian politician. He was a member in the South Australian House of Assembly from 1896 to 1899, and the Australian House of Representatives from 1901 to 1917. O'Malley was also Minister for Home Affairs in the second and third Fisher Labor ministry.
O'Malley was a visible figure in Australian public life during the early years of Federation. He is particularly remembered for his role in the establishment of the Commonwealth Bank, for taking the 'U' out of the Australian Labour Party and in the selection of Canberra as the national capital.
O'Malley was not quite certain about his own birthday. He claimed it was either 3 or 4 July 1854, but he chose to celebrate it on 4 July. O'Malley claimed all his life (in public at least) to have been born at the Stanford Farm in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada, which would have made him a British subject, but it is more likely that he was born at his parents' farm in Valley Falls, Kansas, United States. Late in his life, in a letter to the widow of the former Labor MP James Catts, O'Malley wrote "I am an American". According to O'Malley, his parents were William and Mary (King) O'Malley.
O'Malley was educated at a primary school in New York City, and then worked in his uncle's bank and as an insurance and real estate salesman, travelling widely around the United States. While in Texas O'Malley founded a church, taking the title of "First Bishop of the Waterlily Rock Bound Church, the Red Skin Temple of the Cayuse Nation" in order to take advantage of a government land grant then being offered to churches. In 1881 O'Malley married Rosy Wilmot, who died from tuberculosis shortly before she was due to give birth in 1886. O'Malley found he had contracted the disease from her and in 1888, having been given six months to live, he sailed for Queensland, Australia.
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