You'd be surprised how many senior politicians have come out of Beaconsfield.
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There was federal and state minister Jens Jensen, who owned pubs in Beaconsfield and Beauty Point, and Senator David O'Keefe.
The long-serving Minister of Mines, Major TH Davies, was born in the building that is now a microbrewery, and was seconded by Winston Churchill to his invasion of Russia in 1919.
And there was Michael O'Keefe.
Michael was born to Edmund and Josephine O'Keefe in Westbury in 1864. His father Edmund came from Tipperary.
The family joined the rush to Beaconsfield as soon as gold was discovered, where Edmund became a mine manager and well-known as a swindler, even before staging the great gold robbery of the Bank of Tasmania in 1884.
Michael was straight though. So much so, he was trusted to work in the gold room of the Tasmania mine processing plant on Middle Arm. He even became a magistrate. More than that, he was decent and cared about people.
In 1912 he was elected to the House of Assembly, representing Wilmot (now Lyons).
In 1925 he was elevated to speaker in the Lyons Labour government. It seems he then knew he'd reached the apex of his career and had no further ambition.
He "beamed with kindliness" according to one friend, and was liked and respected by both sides of the House.
A year later he was heading home from Hobart, the car belonging to the Hydro and driven by one of their clerks. The sun had just set. With him were Premier Joe Lyons and the boss of the Hydro, Harry Curtis.
Inexplicably, as they came to the rail crossing at Perth, the driver completely failed to see that the goods train had not cleared the intersection. They ran straight into the guard's van at the rear.
They were all thrown out by the force of the impact - the premier suffering serious injuries and lucky to survive.
O'Keefe was badly hurt. He had a compound fracture of the leg and nasty injuries to his head and face.
They were conveyed to St Margaret's Hospital in Launceston, where doctors operated on O'Keefe until midnight.
He was two months in hospital, until discharged to his home in Beaconsfield for further recuperation.
His recovery was made difficult by being overweight and having a weak heart.
Nevertheless he hobbled around on crutches and everyone thought he would soon return to work.
Suddenly he died of a massive stroke. The injuries and long immobility caught up with him.
His widow Beatrice was offered a state funeral.
She declined, wanting to have the service in the old mining town that was their home, and in their own Catholic Church.
It was the most impressive funeral ever seen in Beaconsfield, and he was buried in the town cemetery. One of many famous graves you can visit there.
