Joseph Francis Hannan was an Australian politician and trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

ist. Hannan was probably born in Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and emigrated with his family in 1888. He soon became involved in the union movement and was a member of the committee of the Melbourne Trades Hall Council

Victorian Trades Hall Council

The Victorian Trades Hall Council is a representative body of trade union organisations, known as a Labour council, in the State of Victoria, Australia...

 that established the Political Labor Council

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...

 of Victoria in 1900. In 1903, he married Agnes Theresa Phelan. He became president of the Victorian branch of the Labor Party in 1911.

Hannan stood unsuccessfully against George Fairbairn for the seat of Fawkner

Division of Fawkner

The Division of Fawkner was an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1906 , and was abolished itself in 1969. It was named for John Pascoe Fawkner, one of the founders of Melbourne. It was located in the inner southern suburbs of Melbourne, including at various...

 at the 1910 election

Australian federal election, 1910

Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 April 1910. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...

, but defeated him at the 1913 election

Australian federal election, 1913

Federal elections were held in Australia on 31 May 1913. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Andrew Fisher was defeated by the opposition Commonwealth Liberal...

. He lost the seat at the 1917 election

Australian federal election, 1917

Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 May 1917. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...

, due to his opposition to conscription

Conscription

Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

. In 1918 he won a by-election for the Victorian Legislative Assembly

Victorian Legislative Assembly

The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...

 seat of Albert Park

Electoral district of Albert Park

The Electoral district of Albert Park is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It covers the inner city suburbs of South Melbourne, Albert Park, Port Melbourne and St Kilda...

, but resigned in 1919 to unsuccessfully contest Fawkner at the 1919 election

Australian federal election, 1919

Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1919. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes defeated the opposition Australian...

. In 1924, he was appointed to fill a casual vacancy

Casual vacancy

In the Parliament of Australia, a casual vacancy is caused when a member of either house :* dies* resigns mid-term * is expelled from Parliament and their seat is declared vacant, or...

 in the Senate, but was not returned at the 1925 election

Australian federal election, 1925

Federal elections were held in Australia on 14 November 1925. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 22 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...

. He also unsuccessfully contested the assembly seat of Castlemaine and Kyneton in 1927 and Albert Park in 1932, and stood for the Federal seats of Kooyong

Division of Kooyong

The Division of Kooyong is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the inner eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and encompasses the suburbs of Kew, Hawthorn, Hawthorn East, Balwyn, Canterbury, Camberwell and Surrey Hills. The Division was proclaimed in 1900, and was...

 the 1928 election

Australian federal election, 1928

Federal elections were held in Australia on 17 November 1928. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...

 and Flinders

Division of Flinders

The Division of Flinders is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election...

 at the 1934 election

Australian federal election, 1934

Federal elections were held in Australia on 15 September 1934. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent United Australia Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Joseph Lyons with coalition partner the Country Party led...

without success.

After leaving politics Hannan became a commercial traveller. He was survived by two daughters and a son.