Lionel Courtenay

Lionel Thomas Courtenay (1 December 1879 – 11 July 1935) was an Australian businessman and politician. Born in Sydney, he left school at a young age but became general manager of an engineering company. He was involved in local politics, sitting on Mascot Council, Mosman Council and Sydney City Council. In 1932, he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council as a member of the United Australia Party. He left the Council in 1934 to contest the Australian Senate as a UAP candidate for New South Wales, in which he was successful. However, he died on 11 July 1935, 11 days after he formally became a Senator, necessitating the appointment of Guy Arkins to replace him.

Early life Courtenay was born on 1 December 1879 in Balmain, New South Wales, the son of Catherine (née Gleeson) and Lionel Lewis Courtenay. His mother was born in Ireland, while his father, an engineer, was born in England. He attended Gardeners Road Public School in Rosebery. In the same year Courtenay joined the new United Australia Party. In September 1932 he was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council, at the time a lifetime appointment. Following a constitutional amendment, he was re-elected to the council in November 1933 but resigned in August 1934 to contest the 1934 federal election.

Courtenay was elected to a Senate term beginning on 1 July 1935, polling the second-highest number of votes in New South Wales. Already ill at the time of the election, he died after the start of his term but before taking his seat. John Cumpston, the director-general of health, accepted Courtenay's offer and directed that a post-mortem examination be performed to aid knowledge of metastatic cancer.