of Federation, but was defeated for the 1897 Constitutional Convention and unsuccessfully contested a Senate seat at the inaugural 1901 federal election as a Free Trade Party candidate In 1902, he chaired a parliamentary committee investigating possible administrative economies. He also served on the council of the University of Tasmania while in parliament. He retired at the 1903 election after his seat was amalgamated with that of Premier Elliott Lewis in a redistribution. He "expressed regret at having to abandon his political work". Woollnough remained involved with the church throughout his political career. Following his retirement from politics, he was appointed to the Swansea parish in 1903. He remained a military chaplain with the rank of honorary lieutenant-colonel until he reached the compulsory retirement age in 1904. He was appointed as a clerical member of the Anglican Board of Education in 1905. Woollnough resigned as an Anglican church minister in 1906 after a period of ill health, having been based at Swansea, and retired to Port Arthur, where he lived in the former commandant's residence. He died in July 1917 in the Brisbane suburb of Sandgate while on a visit to Queensland. The Mercury wrote that he had "used his exceptional gifts in an unusual way to the service of the state". References 1833 births 1917 deaths Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Place of birth missing