Background
Byrnes was born in Spring Hill, Brisbane, Queensland, to Irish immigrants Patrick Byrnes and his wife Anna, née Tighe.
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Thomas Byrnes
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Byrnes was educated at Bowen Primary School, then, winning a scholarship where topped the state, he studied at Brisbane Grammar School and then studied arts and law at the University of Melbourne, graduating with honours in both.
Career
He was the first Premier of Queensland to die in office. In 1882-1883 Byrnes taught at Xavier College. Byrnes was admitted as a barrister in Victoria on 8 July 1884 and returned for a Queensland admission on 5 August.
He then began a successful career as a barrister.
Byrnes" talent brought him to the attention of fellow barrister Sir Samuel Griffith, then Premier of Queensland, who had him appointed Solicitor-General with a seat in the Legislative Council. Byrnes stood down from the Legislative Council to successfully stand for Cairns in the Legislative Assembly in 1893.
He represented Cairns until 1896, after which he represented Warwick in the Legislative Assembly from 1896 to his death in 1898. Byrnes continued his private law practice and participated in two major Supreme Court of Queensland cases.
In the Queensland Investment Company v.
Grimley case, Byrnes successful conduct of the defence was praised widely. In the John Robb arbitration case of 1892, praise for Byrnes skill was accompanied by public objection to the high fees paid to Samuel Griffith as leading counsel and to Byrnes as one of his assistants. In 1895 and 1897, Byrnes represented Queensland at meetings of the Federal Council of Australasia.
Byrnes" ability had led many to expect great things of him, but he contracted measles then pneumonia and died on 27 September 1898.
Byrnes was accorded a state funeral which proceeded from Street Stephen"s Cathedral to the Toowong Cemetery. Byrnes is commemorated by two statues, one in Centenary Place in Brisbane and the heritage-listed T J Byrnes Monument in Warwick, both funded by public subscriptions.
The township of Byrnestown in Queensland is named after him, as is its main street Byrnes Parade and its railway station.
Membership
Sir Thomas McIlwraith appointed him as Attorney-General of Queensland in the Continuous Ministry, and when Hugh Nelson stepped down as Premier. Byrnes, the youngest member of the Ministry by a large margin, became Premier.
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Born
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Died
September 27, 1898 (aged 37)