Thomas Hunt arrived in Victoria in 1858. With his parents and other members of his family, he settled at Kilmore with older sisters who had migrated earlier.
Hunt 'joined the staff of the Examiner and Kilmore and McIvor Weekly Journal, at the same time studying law. In 1865 he founded the Kilmore Free Press with which he incorporated the Examiner in 1868. He remained editor and proprietor of the journal until 1933. He acquired or established other country papers, the Seymour Express in 1872, the Lancefield Mercury in 1874, the Nagambie Times in 1878 and the Moira Independent in 1883, but they had passed from his possession by the 1890s.'
Hunt was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1874 and remained in parliament until his defeat in 1892. He was elected again in 1903 and remained until 1909.
The Australian Dictionary of Biography says that while Hunt was 'quiet in parliament', he was 'voluble over a wide field in his editorials and private conversation. He was an early supporter of Sir Graham Berry and the ideal of a "yeomanry" of smallholders. His association with Irish and Catholic affairs and public figures was close and continuous and he attained the status of a leading voice in the Irish community before the end of the 1860s.'
Source: K. Simpson.
'Hunt, Thomas (1841–1934)',
Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
Sighted: 02/04/2013
