Family background
Born in 1819, William Curtis lived with wife Elizabeth (née Reynolds) and son William Jnr in Hordern Street Camperdown from the late 1850s. The family moved to Lord Street in 1871. Curtis died in 1873 and was buried at St Stephens Cemetery.
Occupation & interests
William Curtis worked with John Hamblin as a builder, carpenter and carter. He was employed (alongside W Elphinstone) as a carpenter on the Edmund Blacket-designed St Stephen’s Church during its construction in the early 1870s. His tender for the Station Masters’ House at Newtown Station was accepted by the Railway Branch of the Department of Public Works in April 1872.
Community activity
Curtis was a committee member of Newtown’s School of Arts in the 1850s. He was also a member of Manchester Unity Oddfellows’ Loyal St John’s Lodge and of Lodge Newtown Kilwinning, S.C., No. 378.
Local government service
William Curtis was elected as an alderman to the first Newtown Council in 1863, for the O’Connell Ward, and served in that capacity until 1870. He also served as Mayor in 1866 and 1869, and was treasurer in 1869.
References
Biographical information for this alderman was originally researched by Mark Matheson for the Newtown Project Website.
‘Government Gazette Tenders and Contracts’, NSW Government Gazette, 16 April 1872, Issue No. 109, 1023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223088603
‘Family Notices’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 June 1873, 12, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13311517