John Estell

Who was John Estell?

John Estell was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Parliament from 1899 until his death and held a number of ministerial positions in the Government of New South Wales. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party.

Estell was born in the Hunter Region coal mining town of Minmi. He was the son of a coal-miner and was educated to elementary level at Rydal, Wallerawang and Bathurst public schools. His initial employment was as a steam engine driver at the Minmi Colliery in 1882. He was an office-holder in the Colliery Employees Federation from 1894 and an elected member of Plattsburg Municipal Council from 1888 till 1901. He was the mayor in 1891, 1897 and 1899.

In 1899, during the premiership of George Reid he was admitted to life membership of the New South Wales Legislative Council. He resigned his Legislative Council seat to successfully contest the Legislative Assembly seat of Wallsend as the ALP candidate in the 1901 general election. The previous member, David Watkins had resigned to successfully contest the federal seat of Newcastle after the Federation of Australia.