Ellison Quirk

Who is Ellison Quirk?

Ellison Wentworth Quirk, JP was a New South Wales politician, Alderman and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the electorate of Warringah from 1901 to 1904.

Quirk was born in 1866 in the town of Lucknow, near Orange, New South Wales on the Wentworth goldfields. Quirk grew up in the nearby town of Forbes until the age of 15, when his family settled in Manly in 1881. He eventually established himself within the Manly community as a Storekeeper and Land Agent. He married Margaret Ann Mills on 19 November 1896 and they had two daughters and two sons. Holding prominent positions as secretary of the Manly Fire Brigade and president of Manly District Ambulance Brigade, Quirk eventually stood for office as became an Alderman on Manly Municipal Council in 1896 and rose to become Mayor from 1901 to 1906. He would remain a Manly Alderman until his retirement in 1928. Quirk then stood for state office in 1901 when the local member for Warringah, Dugald Thomson, resigned so that he could stand for the seat of North Sydney in the new Federal Parliament. Elected as an Independent, he held the seat until it was abolished before the 1904 election.