Matthew Kilpatrick

Who was Matthew Kilpatrick?

Matthew Kilpatrick was an Australian politician.

He was born in County Donegal in Ireland, the son of farmer Thomas Kilpatrick and Esther, née Ahern. He arrived in Victoria in 1875 and quickly moved to the Goulburn Valley, where he farmed dairy cattle until 1890. After moving to the Riverina district and becoming a shearer, he married Fanny Pyke in 1899, with whom he had three children. He resumed farming and was on the executive of the Farmers and Settlers Association from 1920 to 1921. He married Mary Black in 1923, with whom he had a further three children. In 1920, Kilpatrick was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as a Progressive member for Murray; he joined the Country Party in 1925. With the reintroduction of single-member districts in 1927 he was elected as the member for Wagga Wagga. He served until his defeat in 1941. Kilpatrick died at Coogee in 1949.