John Ryan Brenan was an Australian politician and an elected 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...

 for 68 days in 1856.

Early life

Brenan was born into a Protestant Anglo-Irish family and trained as a solicitor. He emigrated to Sydney in 1834 and held numerous judicial appointments including Coroner, Superintendent of Convicts and Police Magistrate. At the same time he established a private legal practice and was the solicitor for the Bank of Australasia. He owned extensive property in Camden

Camden, New South Wales

-Education:Camden is the location of research facilities for the veterinary and agricultural schools of the University of Sydney. The local government area has two public high schools, Camden High School and Elderslie High School, as well as eight Catholic and three Anglican schools.-Culture:The...

 and Maitland

Maitland, New South Wales

Maitland is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle...

.

State Parliament

At the first elections for 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...

 after the granting of responsible government in 1856, Brenan was an unsuccessful candidate for the two member seat of Cumberland (South Riding)

Electoral district of Cumberland (South Riding)

Cumberland was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1856 to 1859, in the rural part of Cumberland County, which includes Sydney...

. He was defeated by William Manning

William Montagu Manning

Sir William Montagu Manning KCMG LLD was an English-born Australian politician, judge and University of Sydney chancellor.-Early life:...

 and Elias Weekes

Elias Weekes

Elias Weekes was an Australian ironmonger and politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1865 and 1880. He was also a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1856 and 1864...

. However, Weekes had also been a candidate for the seat of Northumberland Boroughs

Electoral district of Northumberland Boroughs

Northumberland Boroughs was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1856 to 1859, including the towns of Morpeth, East Maitland, and West Maitland, and named after Northumberland County...

 and although initially defeated in that electorate, he successfully contested the result and was declared to be the member. Unable to represent two electorates, Weekes chose to represent Northumberland Boroughs and Brenan was successful at the subsequent Cumberland (South Riding) by-election. However, his election was overturned by the Elections and Qualifications committee of the Assembly when it was discovered that voting had not occurred in Canterbury

Canterbury, New South Wales

-Commercial area:Canterbury has a mixture of residential, commercial and industrial developments. Commercial developments are mostly situated on Canterbury Road and surrounding streets...

. Brenan decided not to contest the subsequent by-election, so that the Colonial Treasurer and former Premier Stuart Donaldson

Stuart Donaldson

Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson was the first Premier of the Colony of New South Wales.-Early life:Donaldson was born in London, England. He entered his father's firm at the age of 15 and was sent first to Mexico , for business training, and then to Sydney, where he arrived in 1835...

, who had previously been defeated in a ministerial by-election in the seat of Sydney Hamlets

Electoral district of Sydney Hamlets

Sydney Hamlets was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1856 to 1859, including what were then outer suburbs of Sydney and are now the inner suburbs of Paddington, Surry Hills, Redfern, Chippendale, Glebe, Camperdown, O'Connell Town ,...

, could re-enter parliament. Brenan was unsuccessful in the Cumberland (South Riding) 1857 by-election caused by the resignation of William Manning and in the seat of Hartley

Electoral district of Hartley (New South Wales)

Hartley was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, originally created in 1859 in the Lithgow area and named after the town of Hartley, near Lithgow. It replaced part of Cook and Westmoreland. From 1891 to 1894, it elected two members...

 at the 1858 election and he did not stand for further public office.