People Australia

Ted Larkin, c.1914

Edward Rennix (Ted) Larkin (1880-1915) police officer, Rugby League secretary and parliamentarian

Birth: 3 January 1880 at North Lambton, Newcastle, New South Wales, son of native-born parents of Irish ancestry William Joseph Larkin (1841-1902), quarryman, and Mary Ann, née Rennix (1845-1911). Marriage: 24 July 1903 at St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Newtown, to native-born May Josephine Yates (1885-1963). They had two sons. Death: 25 April 1915 at Gallipoli. Religion: Catholic. 

• His maternal great-grandfather, John (Tip) Bowen (also known as John Bohan) (1789-1858), a labourer born at Kellenine, Cashel, Ireland, arrived in Sydney as a convict aboard the John Barry in November 1921.
• Educated at St Joseph’s Marist Brothers’ College, North Sydney. Member of Newtown St Joseph’s Literary and Debating Club 1897.
• Worked in office of Year Book of Australia Company. Served in militia with the NSW Irish Rifles until 1903.
• Joined Police Department in October 1903; was stationed at North Sydney.
• Left the police force in June 1909 to become first secretary of the NSW Rugby League, and held the full-time position until 1913. Appointed justice of the peace in 1911.
• Joined the Australian Labor Party, Willoughby branch, 1909.
• Elected to the NSW Legislative Assembly for the seat of Willoughby in 1913. Held the seat until his death.
• Enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in August 1914. A sergeant serving with the 1st Battalion, he was killed in action at Gallipoli shortly after the landing.
• Interested in rugby and swimming, in his youth he represented NSW and Australia at Rugby Union. He was president of the NSW League of Wheelmen. He was a director of Royal North Shore Hospital.
• After his death his widow, who was left with two children, the youngest aged 2, was appointed to his place as a director of Royal North Shore Hospital and in December 1915 was appointed as an inspector under the Early Closing Acts. She continued to work as an industrial inspector in the Department of Labour and Industry.
• His brother Martin Joseph Larkin (1877-1915), a blacksmith, and a boxer under the name 'Paddy Martin', was also killed in action on 24 April 1915 serving with the same battalion as his brother at Gallipoli.
• Ted’s elder son Edward Henry Larkin (1908-2002) became a physician in London. His younger son Wing Commander Howard Rennix Larkin (1912-1980) served in the Royal Australian Air Force in World War II, was captured at Dunkirk on 8 February 1942 and became a prisoner-of-war in Germany. 

Sources
Heather Radi, Peter Spearritt & Elizabeth Hinton (eds), Biographical Register of the NSW Parliament 1901-1970 (Canberra, 1979); Australian Worker, (Sydney), 24 June 1915, p 11; Ross McMcMullin, Retrieving Ted Larkin (1880-915), Australian Society for Sports History Tom Brock lecture September 2015: http://www.tombrock.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/tbl17McMullinA5_Web.pdf