Sydney John Kearney was an Australian politician.

Born 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...

 to solicitor Timothy John Kearney and Sarah Margaret Trim, he attended New England Grammar School and St Joseph's College, after which he was articled as a clerk to his father in 1889. In 1894 he was admitted as a solicitor, partnering with his father until the latter's retirement in 1896, when he became a land agent; he was also secretary of the Armidale

Armidale, New South Wales

Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale Dumaresq Shire had a population of 19,485 people according to the 2006 census. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region...

 Federation League in 1899. On 10 May 1903 he married Harriet Johannah Hughes, with whom he had six children. From 1904 he was a member of the Farmers' and Settlers' Association, and in 1903 he was elected as a Liberal

Liberal Reform Party (Australia)

The Liberal Reform Party was an Australian political party, active in New South Wales state politics between 1901 and 1916. The question of tariff policy which, had created and divided the Free Trade Party and Protectionist Party in New South Wales in the 1890s, became a federal issue at the time...

 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...

, representing Armidale

Electoral district of Armidale

Armidale was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, originally created in 1894, partly replacing New England, and named after and including Armidale. In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, it was absorbed into Northern...

. In 1907 he was dropped as a candidate, but in 1908 he became an alderman at Armidale, serving as mayor in 1913. He left the council in 1917. Kearney later joined the 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...

 and was secretary of the Armidale Non-Conscription League in 1917; he contested the federal seat of New England

Division of New England

The Division of New England is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It is located in the north-east of the state, adjoining the border with Queensland. It includes such towns as Armidale, Ashford, Barraba, Bingara, Bundarra, Glen Innes, Gunnedah, Guyra, Inverell,...

for Labor in 1922. Kearney died at Armidale in 1923.