Joe Lyons Cottage

Joseph Aloysius Lyons was born in this tiny workers cottage in 1879. Joe was the fifth of eight children who experienced early childhood in this humble cottage at Stanley. Joe attended the local Stanley school and started his teaching career here before his political career in 1909. By 1914 Joe was a deputy leader, then in 1923 elected as State Premier. Joe remained premier till the party lost office in 1928, before moving into federal politics in the Scullin Labor ministry in 1929. In 1931 Joe resigned from the Labour Party and led the newly formed United Australia Party in its successful federal campaign in December. From 1932 to his death in 1939 "Honest Joe" was Prime Minister of Australia, being the first (and only) Tasmanian to aspire to that office. Joe was also the first Prime Minister to win three consecutive federal elections. The cottage is preserved as much as possible in the period of Joe's childhood. The static display is a tribute to the life of Joe and his equally famous wife Dame Enid Lyons, the first woman elected to the federal House of Representatives. The cottage is currently owned by Parks and Wildlife and operated by volunteers.