The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Farrell, John
Farrell, John, was born in Buenos Ayres, La Plata, South America, on Dec. 18th, 1851, of Irish parentage. He came with his parents to Victoria in the following year, and up to the age of twenty was engaged in farming in that colony. He afterwards learned the trade of a brewer in Sandhurst, and followed this business for several years in New South Wales. He contributed during this period a number of poems on Australia and other subjects to various periodicals, notably the Bulletin, which attracted a good deal of notice; and in 1887 published a volume, "How He Died, and other Poems." On the publication of "Progress and Poverty," Mr. Farrell became convinced that Henry George had found the solution to the problems of social want and misery, and has since largely devoted himself to the work of spreading abroad a knowledge of the single tax principle. In 1888 he established a newspaper at Lithgow, N.S.W., with this object, which had a considerable influence on public thought. In 1889 he joined with several others in bringing Henry George through the colonies on a lecturing tour, and in June 1890 became editor of the Sydney Daily Telegraph. Some months afterwards he resigned this position, but remains on the editorial staff of that journal. Mr, Farrell was married in Melbourne in 1876, and is regarded as one of the most uncompromising leaders of the Single Tax Movement in Australia.