Frank Skeffington Carroll (c. 1837–1887)[1] was a salesman, mapmaker, journalist, editor, and, briefly, politician in the colony of South Australia.
He was elected to one of three seats for the district of Light in the House of Assembly in April 1878,[5] despite public accusations that he had spent time in Pentridge prison, which he strenuously denied.
[6] It turned out the accusations were "straw men" set up by himself or a friend: he had not used the alias "O'Sullivan" in New Zealand, and had not been sent to Pentridge, but he had called himself "O'Reilly" in Tasmania, and had been sent to Melbourne Gaol.
He was tried by Judge Boucaut and jury for malicious libel in The Lantern of 23 August 1879 against James Hurst and the Mutual Trade Protection Association.
Carroll made various attempts to improve The Lantern: in 1881 he and partner John Roche enlarged it to tabloid format, included serious articles by F. H. Linklater and Henry Cargill, and dropped the cartoons.