At aged 13, while working as a printer, he was convicted for theft for stealing 16 shillings, 3 pence from James Allen Francis in Penzance, Cornwall.
[3] Against Connellan's wishes, the trades council affiliated to the LRC, and in 1901 he served as its delegate to the committee.
This experience moved him towards a split from the Liberal Party and, though he was re-elected to the council as a Lib-Lab in 1903, in 1904 he decided that he would in future contest elections for Labour.
In 1904, the Trades Union Congress was held in Leeds, and Connellan served as chair of the reception committee.
[2] He resigned his council seat that year, but won in New Wortley in 1906, serving until 1912, then back in the East ward from 1914.