Thomas Givens was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

-born 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. Born in County Tipperary

County Tipperary

County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

, he received a primary education before migrating to Australia in 1882. He became a bush worker and miner in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, and was secretary of the Queensland Miners' Union, as well as proprietor of the Cairns

Cairns, Queensland

Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was...

 Daily Times. In 1899, he was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly

Queensland Legislative Assembly

The Queensland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. Elections are held approximately once every three years. Voting is by the Optional Preferential Voting form of the Alternative Vote system...

 as the Labor

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 Cairns

Electoral district of Cairns

The electoral district of Cairns is an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly in the state of Queensland, Australia.The division encompasses the central business district and inner-suburbs of Cairns, in Far North Queensland...

, a position he held until 1902. In 1903, he was elected to the Australian Senate

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

 as a Queensland Labor Senator.

On 9 July 1913, he was elected President of the Senate

President of the Australian Senate

The President of the Australian Senate is the presiding officer of the Australian Senate, the upper house of the Parliament of Australia. The presiding officer of the lower house is the Speaker of the House of Representatives....

, succeeding his Labor colleague Harry Turley. He left the Labor Party in the wake of the 1916 split over 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...

 and joined the new Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party of Australia

The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...

, keeping his position as President of the Senate. On 30 June 1926, he was succeeded as President by John Newlands. His 13 years as President make him the second longest serving President after Alister McMullin

Alister McMullin

Sir Alister Maxwell McMullin was an Australian politician. Born in Scone, New South Wales, he was educated at state schools before becoming a farmer and grazier. He served in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1940-1945, and when he returned served on Upper Hunter Shire Council...

. Givens died in 1928 while still a Senator; the Queensland Parliament appointed Labor member John MacDonald

John MacDonald (Australian politician)

John Valentine MacDonald was a New Zealand-born Australian politician. Born in Opotiki in New Zealand, he was educated in the country before becoming a printer. He migrated to Australia in 1897, becoming a journalist and editor; he was editor of the Brisbane Standard in 1913...

as his replacement.