Percy Nolan

Nolan was born in Queensland, the thirteenth child of Sara Susan (born Holme) and the Reverend James Adams Nolan. His father was a Methodist minister and in 1885 president of the NSW and Queensland Methodist Conference.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3444199 |title=CONVERSAZIONE TO REV. J. A. NOLAN. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |date=11 July 1885 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=5 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} His mother worked for temperance and women's suffrage and served as president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.{{Citation |last=Tyrrell |first=Ian |title=Sara Susan Nolan (1843–1927) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/nolan-sara-susan-7857 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=2024-01-07 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}

After early years in Queensland, where his father was chairman of the Ipswich Methodist District,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3488049 |title=WESLEYAN ANNUAL DISTRICT MEETING. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |date=1 November 1888 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Nolan moved with his family to New South Wales. He attended Fort Street High School for one year and then Newington College from 1899 until 1902.Newington College Register of Past Students 1863–1998 (Syd, 1999) pp146

Nolan studied law and served articles with Reginald Cowlishaw, of Robson and Cowlishaw in Sydney. In 1908 he was admitted as a solicitor.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15001416 |title=LAW REPORT. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=31 August 1908 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=4 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} He lived in Manly from 1918 and in 1922 he became a partner in the firm of Turner, Nolan & Company.

File:Manly Wharf.jpg

File:(1)Manly Municipal Council.jpg

Nolan first served on Manly Council as an alderman in 1923. For three terms from 1936 he was Mayor of Manly and served in that role during the Diamond Jubilee{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17310180 |title=DIAMOND JUBILEE. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=5 February 1937 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} celebrations of the council in 1937 and the Sesquicentennial celebrations of the white settlement of Sydney the following year.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17437103 |title=CELEBRATIONS. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=19 February 1938 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=17 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} The Dobroyd Head scenic roadway, funded by the council, was opened during his mayoralty.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17488533 |title=SCENIC DRIVE. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=4 July 1938 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=12 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} The new Manly Town Hall{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17395981 |title=NEW MANLY MUNICIPAL OFFICES. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=12 June 1937 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=23 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} and the Eric Andrew designed Surf Pavilion at South Steyne were also undertaken whilst he was mayor. The pavilion won the Sir John Sulman Medal but has since been demolished.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17549877 |title=SURF PAVILION AT MANLY. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=19 December 1938 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=5 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} During his term as mayor, he was active in convincing the state government to allow the rebuilding of harbour ferry wharf which stands to this day.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17347599 |title=MANLY WHARF. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=7 February 1936 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=11 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} For many years, Nolan pushed for the removal of the North Head Quarantine Station from Manly and called for its use as public open space.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16067038 |title=QUARANTINE STATION. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=31 May 1923 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=9 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} In 1924, Nolan was on the first board of the Manly Art Gallery and Museum and was a supporter of that unique municipal endeavour until his death.[http://www.manlyartgallerycollections.com.au/gallery_history_6.html History of Manly Art Gallery and Museum] Retrieved 16 August 2012 Just prior to his death on 3 June 1954 he received a certificate of merit from the Local Government Association of NSW for 25 years’ service to Manly Council.[http://www.manly.nsw.gov.au/DownloadDocument.ashx?DocumentID=2106 Manly Council Biographies] Retrieved 16 August 2012 On his death at his residence in Margaret Street, Manly, he was survived by his wife, Irene, and daughters, Dorothy and Joyce.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27517607 |title=Family Notices. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=4 June 1954 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=20 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} In 1955 Clontarf Road was renamed Nolan Place in his honour.[http://www.ourmanly.com.au/Lifestyle/the-street-where-you-live.aspx Manly Street Names] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516073111/http://www.ourmanly.com.au/Lifestyle/the-street-where-you-live.aspx |date=16 May 2013 }} Retrieved 16 August 2012

As a public figure, Nolan's views on various matters were often published and discussed. In 1936 he stated "that flats prevented the population increasing at the normal rate. People who lived in flats wanted motor cars, dancing, and picture shows rather than children."{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37008378 |title="FLATS CURSE OF CIVILISATION". |newspaper=The Courier-Mail |location=Brisbane |date=30 September 1936 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=19 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} In 1938 he made national headlines when at the annual dinner of the Local Government Engineers' Association he reproved his hosts for not appearing in dinner jackets. He commented that few of them, although they were professional men, were wearing evening dress. "Clothes count ... they stamp the professional man as such, and I am surprised and disappointed that so few of you apparently realised this." As Mayor of Manly, Nolan wore the traditional black silk Geneva gown with purple velvet facings but believed he needed more ornamentation for the neck, so added a Jabot with seven cascades of lace foaming down from the collar.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11162233 |title=REPROOF BY GUEST IN DINNER JACKET. |newspaper=The Argus |location=Melbourne |date=12 April 1938 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article81914148 |title=LOCAL GOVERNMENT ENGINEERS ADMONISHED. |newspaper=Singleton Argus |location=NSW |date=13 April 1938 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=1 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17456222 |title=GUEST REPROVES HOSTS. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=12 April 1938 |accessdate=17 August 2012 |page=15 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

Photographic portraits of Nolan from 1925 until 1949 are held by Manly Public Library and are available on the National Library of Australia online database Trove.[http://trove.nla.gov.au/picture/result?q-field0=&q-type0=phrase&q-term0=Alderman+P.L.+Nolan+&q-field1=title%3A&q-type1=all&q-term1=&q-field2=creator%3A&q-type2=all&q-term2=&q-field3=subject%3A&q-type3=all&q-term3=&q-year1-date=&q-year2-date=&l-advformat=&l-advformat=&l-advformat=&l-advformat=&l-advformat=&l-availability=&l-language= Portraits photographs of Alderman P.L. Nolan] Retrieved 17 August 2012

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{{s-bef| before= John Henry Cross}}

{{s-ttl |title= Mayor of Manly | years =1935{{spaced ndash}}1938 }}

{{s-aft|after= Aubrey Hanson–Norman}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Percy}}

Category:1886 births

Category:1954 deaths

Category:Australian Methodists

Category:Mayors of Manly, New South Wales

Category:People educated at Newington College

Category:Lawyers from Sydney

Category:People educated at Fort Street High School

Category:People from Manly, New South Wales

Category:20th-century Australian politicians