Family background
Thomas Jones was born on 22 November 1809 in Sydney. He married Elizabeth Brimble on 17 May 1830, with whom he had at least five children, three sons and two daughters. Their eldest son, Henry pre-deceased them, aged 39, in 1867, as did a grandson, William, in 1876.
In 1874 Thomas, Elizabeth and a granddaughter, Louisa, were involved in a serious gas explosion in their house, Cheshunt, in Pitt-street, Redfern. As reported in Empire, on Sunday evening, shortly after 9 o’clock, ‘Mrs Jones, becoming aware of a strong smell of gas about the house, informed her husband of the circumstance, and he, accompanied by his granddaughter, Miss Louisa Jones, took a lighted piece of paper into one of the rooms where a few days before some fittings had been made to the gas pipes, to connect them with the chandelier. Taking the lighted paper, to see if the gas was turned off, the explosion took place. Mr Jones was knocked down and severely burned on the hands and wrists, and slightly on the right side of his face and neck. Fortunately his eyes escaped injury. His granddaughter was burned on the face, and on the left hand and arm; and she was bruised very much by being knocked down. The door of the room was blown to pieces; the glass in the French windows was shattered; the ceiling came down, and the walls of the room were cracked. Both Mr and Miss Jones are suffering from the shock on their nerves, as well as from the burns they received’.
Elizabeth died in 1878, aged 73, and their son, Edward Richard Jones, died in April 1882, aged 43. Thomas Jones died on 21 September 1882, aged 72, at his Redfern residence.
Occupation & interests
In 1861 Thomas Jones was working as a commission agent and broker, with Henry Williams, in Charlotte Place, Sydney. In 1872 Jones was listed as having 300 shares, worth one pound each, in the Royal Alfred Gold Mining Company Limited which was to operate at the Junction, Hawkins’ Hill, Hill End. In 1878, while living at 5 Bent Street, Sydney, he was declared insolvent, although his estate was released from sequestration by his creditors in 1881.
Community activity
In 1859 Thomas Jones supported the petition to create municipal institutions in Redfern, Chippendale, Waterloo Estate, Surry Hills and South Sydney.
Local government service
Jones was elected as an alderman for the Surry Hills Ward, Redfern Council in 1862. He was on the council for two years, serving as chairman (mayor) in 1864. In 1868 he again nominated for the Surry Hills Ward but withdrew his nomination before the election.
References
‘Redfern, Historic and Industrial Suburb’, Daily Telegraph, 12 May 1922, p. 4,
‘Municipal Elections’, Sydney Morning Herald, 8 February 1862, p. 4, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13224295
‘Suburban Municipalities’, Sydney Morning Herald, 4 May 1864, p. 5, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13094947
‘Suburban Municipal Elections’, Sydney Morning Herald, 5 February 1868, p. 5, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28609243
‘Municipality Meetings’, Sydney Mail, 16 July 1864, p. 6, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/166657214
‘In the will of Thomas Jones’, Government Gazette of the State of NSW, 26 September 1906 [Issue No.231], p. 5506, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/226528643
‘Family Notices’, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 December 1866, p. 1, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13146976
‘Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction’, NSW Government Gazette, 26 September 1882 (No.379), p. 5032, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/225830562
‘Redfern Municipal Election’, Empire, 10 February 1862, p. 3, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60506376
‘Revenue and Expenditure of the Municipal’, NSW Government Gazette, 8 July 1864 (No.135), p. 154, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/225356888
‘Family Notices’, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 December 1866, p. 1, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13146471
‘Family Notices’, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 February 1867, p. 9, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13150116
‘I the undersigned, John Campbell, hereby’, NSW Government Gazette, 30 August 1872 (No.243), p. 2247, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/225844637
‘Serious gas explosion’, Empire, 1 September 1874, p. 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60991905
‘Funerals’, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 May 1876, p. 8, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13374496
‘In Insolvency’, NSW Government Gazette, 18 October 1878 (No.326), p. 4223, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/223754627
‘Funerals’, Sydney Morning Herald, 6 April 1878, p. 16, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13410927
‘Family Notices’, Sydney Mail and NSW Advertiser, 13 April 1878, p. 489, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/162690090