Members
Of the first Australian parliament

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Thomas Macdonald-Paterson worked his passage to Australia as a ship’s schoolmaster in 1861. He qualified as a lawyer in Brisbane and was involved in a number of unsuccessful mining and pastoral ventures. Macdonald-Paterson was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Rockhampton in 1878, and later represented Moreton Bay (1883-85) and North Brisbane (1896-1901). He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Council 1885-87, and Postmaster-General. He advocated the separation of central Queensland and was an ardent supporter of Premier Sir Samuel Griffith.

A Queensland representative at the National Australasian Convention of 1891, Macdonald-Paterson was a consistent supporter of federation. He advocated uniform Australia-wide laws on bankruptcy, banking and commerce, a ten year residency qualification for “new chums” standing for the Senate, and the abolition of the right to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

In 1901 Macdonald-Paterson was elected as a Freetrader to represent Brisbane in the House of Representatives at the first federal election. He was defeated in the 1903 election.