John Young (1827 – 27 February 1907) was an Australian bowler, builder, politician and alderman.

Life and career

Young was born in Foot's Cray,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and died in Annandale, Sydney,

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 ...

. After moving to Victoria, Australia, in 1855, he had mixed results as a builder. He then moved to Sydney in 1866 and proceeded to make his mark. As a result, he is especially remembered as the builder of St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney (designed by

William Wardell William Wilkinson Wardell (1823–1899) was a noted architect who practiced in the second half of the 19th century, and is best known for a series of landmark buildings in Australia in Melbourne and Sydney. Following a successful career in ...

), and the Johnston Street group of houses in Annandale. The most outstanding house in the group was The Abbey, a sandstone, heritage-listed house in the Victorian Free Gothic style. (Sydney folklore has it that Young took gargoyles intended for St Mary's Cathedral and used them on The Abbey). Another outstanding house was Highroyd. The house known as ''Oybin'' is also heritage-listed. The Johnston Street group originally consisted of eight houses, two of which (''Rozelle'' and ''Claremont'') have since been demolished and replaced with blocks of home units. Young himself lived in the nearby house known as ''Kentville'', which has also been demolished. Young also took an active interest in politics, unsuccessfully standing for a seat in the Legislative Assembly on five occasions, 1873 (Glebe), 1874 (East Sydney), 1880 (Newtown), 1887 (Hartley), and 1894 (Annandale). He was mayor of Leichhardt in 1879 and 1884–85,

mayor of Sydney The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has be ...

in 1885–86, and mayor of Annandale in 1894–97. Young died of cancer at ''Kentville'' in 1907. John Young Crescent in the Canberra suburb of Greenway is named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, John Politicians from Sydney Australian Anglicans English emigrants to colonial Australia 1827 births 1907 deaths 19th-century Australian politicians Mayors of Leichhardt Mayors of Annandale Mayors and lord mayors of Sydney Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees