NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 3 February 1923

3 FEBRUARY 1923

Billy Hughes, the 7th Prime Minister of Australia, confirmed his resignation, having served in the role since October 1915.

Irish Senator John Bagwell, from the Irish State Parliament, came to England following his escape from the Irregulars who had kidnapped him.

More homes of members of the Irish Free State legislature were destroyed by arsonists, with Senator Thomas Linehan’s mansion at Whitechurch near Cork burned to the ground. Moore Hall, the ancestral home of Senator Maurice George Moore was also destroyed by arsonists and historic furniture lost in the fire. This building was never repaired and its external walls still remain standing to this day.

Details were given of the Indian Government Bill which would reform the situation that existed whereby European British subjects and Indians were treated differently in criminal trials and proceedings. Unsuccessful efforts had been made forty years before to give equality in law, but these had been unsuccessful at the time.