William Francis Sheahan QC

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

 (3 September 1895 – 27 December 1975) was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

.

Born in Tumut

Tumut, New South Wales

Tumut is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut is at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is referred to as the gateway to the Snowy Mountains Scheme...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, the son of the publicans of the hotel at Jugiong

Jugiong, New South Wales

Jugiong is a village community on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, in the central east part of the Riverina. It is situated just off the Hume Highway, by road, about 30 kilometres southwest from Bookham and 40 kilometres northeast from Gundagai...

, Sheahan attended schools in Tumut and Goulburn

Goulburn, New South Wales

Goulburn is a provincial city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Goulburn Mulwaree Council Local Government Area. It is located south-west of Sydney on the Hume Highway and above sea-level. On Census night 2006, Goulburn had a population of 20,127 people...

.

Sheahan gained work as a clerk in the Crown Law Department in 1914 before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force

Australian Imperial Force

The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...

 in 1916, serving in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

. Following World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Sheahan returned to the Crown Law Department, working there until 1930, when he received a Bachelor of Laws

Bachelor of Laws

The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...

 at the University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

 and established a large criminal law practice.

Elected the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 member for the New South Wales Electoral district of Yass

Electoral district of Yass

Yass was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales between 1894 and 1920. It largely replaced the electoral district of Yass Plains. In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, it was absorbed along with Burrangong into...

 in 1941, Sheahan served in parliament until 1973 (from 1950 as the member for Burrinjuck), holding the portfolios of Attorney-General of New South Wales, Minister for Transport and Minister for Health between 1950 and 1965. His son Terry Sheahan

Terry Sheahan

Terence William "Terry" Sheahan, AO is an Australian judge and former politician. He was the Labor member for Burrinjuck in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1973 to 1988, and held various ministerial portfolios between 1980 and 1988, and currently sits as a judge on the New South...

 succeeded him as Member for Burrinjuck.

Sheahan died in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

.

Honours

He was made a Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

 in 1953.

The Sheahan Bridge near Gundagai

Gundagai, New South Wales

Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town...

 was named in his honour. It is an 1143 metre concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 and steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 bridge on the Hume Highway

Hume Highway

The Hume Highway/Hume Freeway is one of Australia's major inter-city highways, running for 880 km between Sydney and Melbourne. It is part of the Auslink National Network and is a vital link for road freight to transport goods to and from the two cities as well as serving Albury-Wodonga and...

. It replaced the Prince Alfred bridge as the crossing of the Murrumbidgee River

Murrumbidgee River

The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...

. It was opened in 1977. It is the second longest bridge in Australia after the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...

.