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James Vincent O’Loghlin, the only senator to be on active service in World War I, was born at Gumeracha, in the Adelaide Hills, on the 25th of November 1852, the son of James O’Loghlin and his wife Susan, née Kennedy.

James was the youngest child born into the family of 6 children.

His father, who was a farmer, was born in 1805 in County Clare, Ireland and his mother was born in 1913 in Ireland.

They had immigrated to South Australia from Cork, Ireland, on board the Birman and arrived on the 7th of December 1840.
They had first settled in Mt Barker where James’s first siblings were born and they then moved to Gumeracha, where James was born.

When James was only a few years old the family moved to near Kapunda.

James spent the first half of his life in the mid-north and lower-north of South Australia. He was educated at Besley’s Catholic School in Kapunda and at the Kapunda Classical and Commercial Academy (under Mr. J. H. Potter).

James was engaged in farming with his father at Kapunda, Pinkerton, Blyth, and afterwards at Pekina.

Then he was employed on the Hill River and Pinkerton stations, and then entered the service of the South Australian Carrying Company in 1873, which conducted the goods department of the railways.

His father died on the 5th of September 1875 in Pekina and they buried him in the Pekina Cemetery.

Not long afterwards James was appointed to the charge of the Farrell's Flat railway station, then the principal emporium for the traffic from the northern areas. Subsequently he became manager for the company at Gawler, where he remained until the hired truck system was abolished and the Government took over the whole of the railway goods traffic.

James then gained employment with the Gawler millers, W. Duffield and Company, as a wheat buyer. When the firm amalgamated with the Adelaide Milling and Mercantile Company, James was transferred as its manager to Terowie on the 26th of November 1883.
On the eve of his departure he was entertained by a number of his friends at dinner in the Hanson Hotel.

Whilst at Terowie he joined the Terowie Institute Committee and turned his attention to literary work, and in conjunction with Mr. Dawson (formerly of the ''Burra Record") launched the "Terowie Enterprise and North-Eastern Advertiser,'' of which he was managing editor, and subsequently became sole proprietor.

James joined the Terowie Volunteer Corps in 1883. The military service would become his lifelong interest and for twenty years he never missed an annual training camp.
Throughout his life, he showed a marked capacity for multiple loyalties. He was proud of his family’s Irish background and was a strong supporter of Irish home rule. He was one of six South Australian delegates who attended the Irish–Australian Convention in Melbourne in November 1883 and heard the message of support from C. S. Parnell read by the visiting Irish Nationalists, John and William Redmond.
He often wrote and spoke on Irish politics and at various times he was president of the South Australian branches of the Irish National League, the Self-Determination for Ireland League and the United Irish League.

His mother died on the 14th of December 1883 at her residence, Davenport Road, Hilton and they buried her in the West Terrace Cemetery; Catholic Old Area, Grid D9, Site Number 89, with her brothers Richard & John.

James remained in the newspaper business for three years, and in 1887 sold it and transferred to Gladstone as the local manager of the Adelaide Milling Company.
At some point in his career he became president of the South Australian Shorthand Writers’ Association.

The following year he was elected to the Legislative Council with the Hon. John Darling for the Northern District. James was second on the poll, and there were ten candidates.
He had been for some time a member of the Gladstone Town Council.

In May 1888, he was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council as one of the four members representing the Northern District. It was a vast electorate, covering the greater part of the colony, including the Northern Territory. He was not associated with any faction, but was soon recognised as one of the few liberals in the upper House.

On his election to Parliament he moved to Adelaide and after several years, he built a house in the southern suburb of Hawthorn, which he named “Glenvolo”, where he lived for the rest of his life. He was a Justice of the Peace and, in 1889, founded the Catholic weekly newspaper, the Southern Cross. He was its editor for six years and continued to be managing director and secretary until his death. His successor as editor, W. J. Denny, described him as ‘a capable journalist, with a racy pen and an excellent memory’.

In Adelaide he joined the 1st Regiment Adelaide Rifles, B Company & later A Company, as a Lieutenant.

In March 1894, he was appointed a trustee of the Savings Bank of South Australia. Two months later, he was re-elected to the Legislative Council, heading the poll for the Northern District.

In 1895, James was appointed a captain in the South Australian Militia and the following year he was Vice President of the Irish National League.

In the same year, the position of chief secretary in the Ministry led by C. C. Kingston fell vacant. James was not Kingston’s first choice, but after a delay of five weeks he was offered the post and took up office on 18 March 1896. In later years, he frequently alluded to his experiences as Kingston’s lieutenant. As the only minister in the Council, James was responsible for steering through a wide range of legislation, including the 1896 Pastoral Bill, the 1896 Coloured Immigration Restriction Bill, the 1898 Public Health Bill, the 1898 Public Service Bill and the 1899 Federation Enabling Bill. Colonial defences came within his portfolio and he organised the first two South Australian contingents sent to South Africa in 1899. He served on the 1897 royal commission on government wharves and chaired the commission on the public service which was appointed in 1899.

Reform of the Legislative Council was the greatest challenge faced by Kingston and his Cabinet. In 1896 and 1898–99, James failed to persuade his colleagues in the Council to extend the franchise. The Governor refused to grant a double dissolution on the issue and on 1 December 1899 the Ministry resigned.
He never held office again.

In May 1902, he lost his seat, coming last in the Northern District poll. He declared it to be ‘a temporary banishment’. To some extent this was true, but in the next twenty years he was to experience an unusual number of electoral defeats.
In the first federal elections in March 1901, James was one of eleven South Australian parliamentarians who stood for the Senate. He finished eighth. He had resumed his position with the Southern Cross, and in 1903 he was appointed by the South Australian Government as an honorary commissioner to inquire into the agricultural and dairying industries in New Zealand. He subsequently wrote a series of articles about New Zealand politics, government and industrial relations. He also wrote occasional tributes to political colleagues, such as Kingston and Frederick Holder, and the New Zealand Premier, Richard Seddon.

In 1904 he was promoted to the rank of Major in the 10th Australian Infantry Regiment. For some years, he commanded an Irish Corps and later in the Senate he was to defend the formation of Irish and Scottish military units. He excelled in the use of the rifle, winning awards and leading the South Australian Parliamentary Rifle Team.

James had often been described as a radical or liberal, but essentially he had been a ministerialist. He remained an admirer of Kingston, but whereas other former associates formed the Liberal Union, he joined the Labor Party in 1906.
In June 1907, the Party held a plebiscite to select parliamentary candidates and he was one of the twenty elected from the ninety-four nominees. Within a few weeks, he was elected to fill a casual vacancy in the Senate by a joint sitting of the Houses of the South Australian Parliament. The vacancy had arisen when the High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, had declared that the election of Joseph Vardon in 1906 had been invalid on account of ballot papers unjustifiably rejected by returning officers.

On the 23rd of January 1907 at 10am, James married Blanche BESLEY in St Ignatius Church, Norwood.
The Rev. Father O'Brien, in wonderfully embroidered vestments of white and gold, performed the ceremony, in which he was assisted by Father Francis.

Mr. W. J. Denny, M.P., was best man and Mr. Dick Besley acted as groomsman.
They held their reception at the residence of the Blanches father at St. Peters and after they drove to Aldgate, en route for their honeymoon tour to Sydney, Tasmania and
New Zealand.

Blanche was the daughter of John William BESLEY & Caroline Blanche BYRNE and was born on the 25th of January 1877 in Adelaide.
Her father, John William BESLEY was his schoolmaster.

James was sworn in as a senator on 17 July 1907 and in the next four months took part in a number of debates. His position, however, was invidious, as Vardon petitioned first the High Court and then the Senate, arguing that there should have been a new poll. The Senate committee of disputed returns and qualifications upheld Vardon’s petition, and the Senate ultimately referred the matter back to the High Court, which declared James’s appointment void.
A new election was held in February 1908.
Despite receiving campaign support from a number of federal ministers, James was defeated by Vardon. There were suggestions that he had not received the full support of the Labor Party; it was easy for the press to portray him as ‘an eleventh hour convert’ who lacked any connections with the trade unions.

They welcomed their first child; James Vincent, on the 28th of March 1908.

In November 1909, James retired from the Commonwealth Military Forces with the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

The following month they welcomed a daughter, Mary Blanche, on the 12th of December 1909.

In April 1910, James was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly for the seat of Flinders. Despite his long parliamentary and ministerial experience, he did not obtain a portfolio in John Verran’s first Labor Ministry. At the February 1912 election, James was one of several Labor members who lost their seats.

They welcomed their last child; Brian Besley, on the 7th of May 1912.

At the federal election on the 31st of May 1913, James was elected one of the senators for South Australia, joining the huge Labor majority in the Senate. He was re-elected in September 1914, following the double dissolution.

In August 1915, at the age of sixty-two, James became the only senator to enlist for overseas service. He told George Pearce, that if ‘you cannot put me in the firing line, put me as near to it as you can’.

On the 19th of August James was entertained by the Commonwealth Government and Parliament at a banquet in Queen’s Hall, Federal Parliament House, prior to his embarkation.

Appointed a temporary lieutenant colonel, he commanded reinforcements on troopships which disembarked in Egypt in September 1915 and April 1916. On each occasion, his stay in Egypt was brief and he was disappointed not to be able to visit Gallipoli. In September 1916, while the conscription referendum campaign was taking place in Australia, he was on a troopship en route to Europe.
He stayed in England for a few weeks and on the voyage home, he visited South Africa and made speeches about the war and Australian politics.

By the time James returned to Australia in March 1917, many of his friends had followed Hughes and left the Labor Party. Knowing his commitment to the war effort, some of his colleagues had taken it for granted that James was a conscriptionist. However, in his first speech on returning to the Senate he insisted that he had declared his opposition to conscription as early as August 1916. At the same time, he was appalled by the split in the Party. He criticised the South Australian branch for expelling the conscriptionists and refused to campaign against his old colleagues at the 1917 election.

After July 1917, James was one of the small Labor minority in the Senate and, like all but one of his colleagues, was defeated in the 1919 election.

James’s somewhat equivocal position led to taunts and criticism for well over a year. Nationalist Senators spoke of his ‘masterly silence’ over conscription, while more militant Labor colleagues tried to provoke him to attack old friends.
James’s support for the war remained unqualified, but by November 1918 he spoke harshly of the harm that Hughes had done to Australia and condemned the efforts of the Government to gain control of the former German colonies in the Pacific.

Despite such occasional outbursts, James was generally a mild-mannered man, who was liked by most other senators. He was not an eloquent or combative speaker and his speeches in the Senate were seldom well-constructed or persuasive. Throughout his years in the Senate, he spoke regularly and confidently on defence matters and in one of his last speeches he argued that Australia should be self-reliant and should manufacture aircraft and submarines. Reflecting his rural background, he took a strong interest in agricultural problems and in the development of country towns. He had been a keen supporter of the trans-continental railway and he continued to call for the completion of the rail link between South Australia and Darwin.

In January 1922 James had his fathers remains exhumed from the Pekina Cemetery and reintered with his mother in the West Terrace Cemetery.

James was re-elected on the 16th of December 1922 and he returned to the Senate in July 1923.
James was 70 years old and one of the oldest senators. He referred to himself ‘as a veteran, growing perhaps a little weary of the political battle’. To the concern of his colleagues, he continued to travel to Melbourne during the cold winter, but he seldom spoke in the Senate.

He was a member of the Naval & Military Club and in August 1925, he was granted two months leave from the senate.

James died at his residence, William Street, Hawthorn, on Friday the 4th of December 1925.

Two days later a State Funeral was held for James and in spite of the excessive heat there was a large gathering at his graveside.
The cortege drew up near the residence at William Street, Hawthorn.
A respectful hush, as if to emphasise the regret felt at the passing of an Australian Statesman, rested over the neighbourhood.

Inspector Nation and Sgt. Taylor arranged the procession in its order of precedence. A police mounted section headed the procession, followed by Monsignor Hurley, who represented Dr. R. W. Spence (Archbishop of Adelaide), and Father Crowley (officiating priest).
After the hearse came the mourning coaches which were occupied by near relatives.
They were Miss B. O'Loghlin (daughter), Mr. J. B. O'Loghlin (son), Mr. P. J. O'Loghlin (nephew) and Mr. J. B. Gillen.

Mr. Legh Winser represented His Excellency the Governor, Sir Tom Bridges.
The Parliamentary representatives were Senator Wilson, the Hon. J. Mclnnes (Speaker of the House of Assembly), Senators Newland and A. A. Hoare, A. J. McLachlan, and McHugh, Messrs. N. Makin, J. G. Duncan-Hughes, W. Langdon Parsons (members of the House of Representatives), the Hon. J. Jelley (Acting Premier), the Hon. L. L. Hill (Commissioner of Public Works), the Hon. T. Butterfield (Commissioner of Crown Lands), Sir Henry Barwell (Leader of the Opposition), Sir David Gordon, the Hons. A. P. Blesing, W. H. Hannaford, W. H. Harvey, T. Gluyas, Ms. L.C., Mr. P. McM. Glynn, K.C., Messrs. F. W. Birrell, P. Reidy, E. J. Shepherd, A. A. Edwards, and J. O'Connor, Ms. P.

The procession reached West Terrace by way of Goodwood Road and people stood with bared heads.
Traffic also stopped or slowed up.
At the gates hundreds of mourners waited.
The Australian Natives' Association of which James was a foundation member, was represented by Messrs. N.M. Roberts (secretary of the Adelaide branch. E. H. Dankel (chief president). G. Waterford (general secretary), and G. A. Robinson.

Others at the graveside were Messrs. J.M. Gabb, J. J. Daly, J. McGuire (Railways Commissioner), Mr. C. J. Boykett (secretary to the Railways Commissioner). F. F. Ward (secretary of the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party). E. A.
Anstey and the Rev. Brothers Tevlin, Coglin, Mackay and Egan (Rostrevor College) and Duffy (Christian Brothers' College).

Revs. Carolan, J. A. Gatzemeyer, Farrelly, Corrish and Carroll.
The pallbearers were the Hon. W. J. Denny, the Hon. L. L. Hill the Hon. T. Butterfield, Senators Newland, Wilson and Hoare, and Mr. Norman Makin.

He was buried in the West Terrace Cemetery; Catholic Western Ground, Row O, Site Number 181.

With the outbreak of WW2, following in their father’s footsteps, all of James’s children enlisted and served;

(1) James Vincent, enlisted on the 19th of July 1941 – SX13745.
(2) Mary Blanche, enlisted on the 7th of February 1941 - SX13594.
(3) Brian Besley, enlisted into the RAAF on the 9th of February 1943 – 130724

Blanche died on the 17th of June 1972, aged 95, and was buried with James in the West Terrace Cemetery.

James’s Siblings;

(1) Mary Bridget O’LOGHLIN (1842 – 07.06.1931).
Mary was the first teacher in the Petersburg (now Peterborough) Catholic School, when the old building was opened in, April, 1886. She managed the whole of the school by herself for many years.
Many prominent men of today began their education under her capable tuition, including priests and doctors. Some of her girl pupils have entered convents.
She retired when the Sisters of St. Joseph took charge in, 1900.
She never married.

(2) Bridget Ann O’LOGHLIN (1844 - 07.09.1925).
Bridget was an active member of the Catholic Women's League and all earnest worker in all matters connected with the Catholic Church and School, Kingswood.
She died in the North Adelaide Private Hospital.
She never married.

(3) Cornelius Francis O’LOGHLIN (1848 -22.04.1917).
Cornelius entered the Government service in 1883, and was foreman at the Sewage Yard, Thebarton. When the Happy Valley Reservoir was begun in 1892 he was transferred there, and became chief inspector of works. On the completing of the big reservoir he was appointed to a similar position at the Bundaleer Reservoir, which had then just been begun.
It was while engaged on this work that he had the misfortune to lose his right arm, as the result of an explosion.
He never fully recovered from the shock of this accident, although he was able to carry on his ordinary duties. He was then employed in the Waterworks Department.
He never married.

(4) Ellen O’LOGHLIN (1850 – 01.09.1913). Sister Mary ISODORE of St. Joseph's Convent, Kensington.
She entered into religion on the Feast of the Assumption, 1869, before she had quite reached 19 years of age. From the moment that she commenced her religious life she devoted herself heart and soul to the work of teaching; so it was not long before she was given charge of Russell-street (Adelaide) school, where she remained for 11 years. Later, for 15 years, she was at Beulah-road, Norwood.
She was always a great favourite, especially among the students who were taught by her. Her kindly disposition and self-sacrifice in the religious life she chose won for her the warmest feelings of regard from those associated with her.
She never married.

(5) Annie Clara O’LOGHLIN (?? – 06.08.1915). She never married.

Military

At the age of 62, James enlisted into the 1st AIF on the 19th of August 1915 in Adelaide and was appointed to Lieutenant Colonel as the Transport Officer for Troopships to command the reinforcements.
He listed his wife, of William Street, Hawthorne, as his next of kin.

He embarked from Adelaide on the HMAT Morea on the 26th of August 1915 in command of the following reinforcements on route to Suez;
3rd Light Horse Regiment, 8th Reinforcements
9th Light Horse Regiment, 8th Reinforcements
10th Battalion, 8th Reinforcements
12th Battalion, 8th Reinforcements
27th Battalion, 3rd Reinforcements
Nurses.

James disembarked in Port Suez in late September and re embarked for Melbourne on board HS Borda on the 15th of November.
He disembarked in Melbourne on the 13th of December and his appointment was terminated the following day.

On the 16th of February 1916 James was reappointed for voyage duty and embarked from Melbourne on the 14th of March 1916 on board HMAT Anchises.
On board were the 14th Battalion, 15th & 16th Reinforcements and the 29th Battalion 4th & 5th Reinforcements.

They disembarked in Port Suez on the 15th of April and 9 days later James embarked from Port Suez on board HS Seang Bee.
He disembarked in Melbourne on the 31st of May and his appointment was terminated on the 2nd of June.

On the 29th of August his appointment was re appointed and he embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT Commonwealth on the 19th of September 1916.
On board was the;
32nd Battalion, 9th Reinforcements
50th Battalion, 5th Reinforcements

They disembarked in Plymouth on the 14th of November and after spending Christmas 1916 in England, James embarked for Adelaide on board HT Nestor the following day and disembarked in Adelaide on the 9th of March.

On the voyage home, he visited South Africa and made speeches about the war and Australian politics.

On arrival in Adelaide his appointment was terminated and he was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War & Victory Medals.