George Edmondstone (1809–1883) was politician in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. He was a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former Electoral dis ...

and an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

and mayor in the

Brisbane Municipal Council The Town of Brisbane was a Local government in Australia, local government area of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia from 1859 to 1903. It was later elevated to city status and was the City of Brisbane from 1903 until it was amalagamated into ...

.Brisbane City Council Archives The surname is spelled 'Edmonstone' in the Brisbane City Council Archives, spelled 'Edmundston' on his father's marriage banns, spelled 'Edmondston' on his baptismal certificate and Edmondstone on his father's Testament.

Personal life

George Edmondstone was born on 4 May 1809 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland, the son of William Edmondstone, a naval commissary, and Alexandrina (Alixa) Farquharson daughter of a watchmaker. George's father died when he was 12 and he migrated to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in 1832. Later he went to Hobart Town and after some hard times began business in Sydney. He then moved to Maitland and about 1840 he took up Normanby Plains Station (near Warrill View on the

Cunningham Highway The Cunningham Highway is a National Highway (Australia), national highway located in South East Queensland, south-eastern Queensland, Australia. The highway links the Darling Downs region with the urbanised outskirts of Ipswich, Queensland, I ...

). He sold out early in 1842 and set up as a butcher in Brisbane, hoping to profit from trade with the newly settled Darling Downs. He had married Alexis Telleray in 1837 in

(her name appears in the

records as Alexandrina Tillery, the confusion most likely stems from transcriptions of original handwritten records). George was in the first group of free settlers to arrive in Brisbane in 1840. He built a house called "Pahroombin". In his later years, George was described by his peers as a genial, amiable, old gentleman. He died in Brisbane on Friday 23 Feb 1883. His funeral notice appeared in the

Brisbane Courier ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...

and said: At that time, the "General Cemetery" of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

was

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland, Queensland's lar ...

Business life

George Edmondstone had a

butchery A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishme ...

in Queen Street, the main street of

Public life

George was a founding

(1859–1866) of the

and its mayor in 1863. He served on a number of committees including: * Legislative Committee 1859–1865 * Lighting Committee 1862 * Incorporation Committee 1862, 1864 * Bridge Committee 1862–1864, 1866 * Water Committee 1864 * Finance Committee 1866 * Brisbane Board of Waterworks 1874–1883 George was a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(lower house) of

representing the electorate of East Moreton from 7 May 1860 to 1 July 1867. He also represented the electorate of Town of Brisbane from 10 Feb 1869 to 14 Nov 1873 and then the electorate of Wickham from 18 Nov 1873 to 28 April 1877. On 12 May 1877, George was made a life

Member of the Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the British ( ...

until his death on 23 Feb 1883. He made a substantial contribution to the early development of Brisbane. Amongst the initiatives that he championed were: *

Breakfast Creek The Breakfast Creek ( Aboriginal: ''Yawagara '') is a small urban stream that is a tributary of the Brisbane River, located in suburban Brisbane in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. Course and features Rising as the Enoggera Cre ...

Bridge * Brisbane General Cemetery Trust, now known as the

(where he is buried near the front gates) * A primary school in Spring Hill (today the

Brisbane Central State School Brisbane Central State School, also known as Leichhardt Street State School, and Brisbane Practicing School, is a heritage-listed state school, public Mixed-sex education, coeducational primary school, located at 85 Rogers Street, Spring Hill, ...

) * Ann Street Presbyterian ChurchAnn Street Presbyterian Church Act 1889 reprinted as in force on 1 March 1996 * As mayor in 1863-64 he had much to do with the planning of the first Brisbane bridge ( Victoria Bridge), the First Brisbane Town Hall and Brisbane Waterworks.

References

External links

Photo of George Edmondstone, taken 1859

Photo of George Edmondstone, taken 1863

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmondstone, George 1809 births 1883 deaths Mayors and lord mayors of Brisbane Members of the Queensland Legislative Council Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Burials at Toowong Cemetery 19th-century Australian politicians Pre-Separation Queensland Australian butchers