John Francis McCafferty (1914-1999) was one of the pioneers of the bus and coach industry in Australia, founder of

McCafferty's Coaches McCafferty's Coaches was an Australian family run interstate coach operator from 1940 to 2004. In October 2004 the McCafferty family sold its shares and its operations were rebranded as part of Greyhound Australia History McCafferty's Coaches wa ...

and

mayor of Toowoomba This is a list of mayors of the City of Toowoomba and the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In March 2008 the City of Toowoomba was amalgamated with the Shires of Crows Nest, Rosalie, Jondaryan, Cambooya, Clifton, Millmerran, and ...

for 9 years. McCafferty was born at

Breakfast Creek The Breakfast Creek ( Aboriginal: ''Barrambin'') 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 ...

, Brisbane on 11 March 1914, the son of James McCafferty, a railway engine driver, and Martha. During the depression in the 1930s, he operated a milk run with a horse and cart in

Wilsonton Wilsonton is an urban locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Wilsonton had a population of 5,891 people. Geography Wilsonton is located west of the Toowoomba central business district Toowoomba City is an urban Su ...

. On 1 April 1940, McCafferty began his first bus run, purchasing the Picnic Point to Rangeville service. Later in 1950, he acquired a co-ordinated bus-rail link from Toowoomba to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. Over the following years, he acquired further services, building the McCafferty's Coaches business into an Australia-wide coach service. His coach business was later merged into

Greyhound Australia Greyhound Australia is an Australian coach operator that ran services in all mainland states and territories until reduction of services in the 2000s. It is owned by KordaMentha (85%) and the Chapman Group (15%). The company was established i ...

. In 1955, McCafferty was elected as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

to the

Toowoomba City Council The City of Toowoomba was a local government area in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, encompassing the centre and inner suburbs of the regional city of Toowoomba. The City covered an area of , and existed as a local governm ...

and within three years he was the 58th mayor of Toowoomba, an office he held for nine years until his defeat in 1967. During this time, he came to be regarded as a dynamic mayor who put Toowoomba on the map. McCafferty died on 12 January 1999 at the age of 84 after a 2-year battle with cancer. His funeral was held at St Patrick's Cathedral and was attended by more than 1,000 people.Toowoomba City Council Home – Jack McCafferty – King of the Road
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCafferty, Jack Mayors of Toowoomba 1914 births 1999 deaths Queensland local councillors 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian businesspeople