Joshua Jeays (1812–1881) was a Leicester-born carpenter who became a successful developer, 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 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 ...

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.Brisbane City Council Archives

Personal life

Joshua Jeays was born in 1812 in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, England.,Queensland Registrar-General of Births, Deaths & Marriages and died in Brisbane in 1881, at the age of 69. He married Sarah Edwyn in 1838 in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, England with whom he had a number of children including: * Sarah Jane * Joseph Joshua (died 1909) * Charles Edwyn (died 1883) There may have been other children who died in infancy. Joshua and Sarah and the three children above immigrated to

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

in 1853. Jeays purchased land and built 'Roma Villa' on the corner of Upper Roma and Skew Streets,

Petrie Terrace Petrie Terrace is an inner suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Petrie Terrace had a population of 1,168 people. Geography The suburb is by road west of the Brisbane General Post Office. The precinct is bordered ...

(an area then known as 'the Green Hills'), where he lived with his wife and family. His daughter Sarah Jane married in 1858 at Brisbane to Sir

Charles Lilley Sir Charles Lilley (27 August 1827 – 20 August 1897) was a Premier of Queensland, Premier and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland. He had a significant influence on the form and spirit of state education in colonial Queensland whi ...

, who went on to become

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

. In 1862, Jeays paid £78 for 16 hectares (39 acres) of land along Simpsons Road, from the corner of Cooper's Camp Road, towards

Ithaca Creek Ithaca Creek is a waterway in the Enoggera Creek catchment, in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It arises in the Taylor Range at the Mount Coot-tha forest with two streams, one arising at J C Slaughter Falls, the other ...

and abutting what is now Bowman Park (the latter area then known as the 'Cobbler's Flats', because of the abundance of the weed 'cobblers pegs'), west of the area then known as Upper Paddington. His wife believed that living on this land would be healthier for her than their home on the 'Green Hills'. Accordingly, Jeays built a grand English-style home, using rough stone and decorated with gables and casement windows, naming it 'Bardon' after Bardon Hill in his native Leicestershire. The suburb was subsequently named 'Bardon' after this house, in 1926. However, by the time the house was completed his wife had died and Joshua was too broken-hearted to live in the house that he had built for his wife, and it was then occupied by his son Charles and later by Edwyn Lilley (son of his daughter Sarah Jane and

). The house was purchased by the Brisbane Diocese of the Catholic Church in 1925 and now stands in the grounds of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, The Drive, Bardon. Joshua Jeays died on 11 March 1881 in

and is buried in

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 ...

. with his wife Sarah who, as noted above, predeceased him, dying on 26 July 1864 in Brisbane. Sarah was originally buried in Paddington Cemetery but was most likely one of those re-interred in

(the Paddington Cemetery was redeveloped as a recreational site for athletics and other sports and in 1914 was fenced off and renamed

Lang Park Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rectangular sporting st ...

Business life

Jeays started work in England as a carpenter. In Brisbane, he worked as a builder, architect and stonemason and was involved in the construction of the gallery of the original St John's (Church of England) pro-cathedral in the Queen's Gardens (1854), the second Albert Street Methodist Church building (1856, since demolished), as well as building homes of prominent Brisbane residents

Walter Hill Walter Hill (born January 10, 1942) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer known for his action films and revival of the Western (genre), Western genre. He has directed such films as ''The Driver'', ''The Warriors (film), The ...

, (founder of the Botanic Gardens), the infamous Patrick Mayne's ' Moorlands' at Auchenflower, and the Cribb family. He was also involved in the development of Brisbane's water supply and drainage system. Jeays built and provided the stone from his quarry at Woogaroo (the area now named Goodna) for Brisbane's first

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Territories. The name is also used in some other countries. Government Houses in th ...

, now part of the

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

's Gardens Point campus. He also partially built the George Street side of

Parliament House, Brisbane Parliament House in Brisbane is the meeting place of the Parliament of Queensland, housing its Unicameralism, only chamber, the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, Legislative Assembly. It is located on the corner of George Street, Brisbane, Ge ...

, which

John Petrie John Petrie (15 January 1822 – 8 December 1892) was a Scottish-born Australian politician, architect, stonemason and building contractor in Brisbane who became the city's first Mayor. Private life John Petrie was born 15 January 1822Too ...

completed in 1868. Jeays built the Wharf Street Congregational Church, Brisbane (1859–1860).''Brisbane's Historic Churches -- V -- Wharf Street (Congregational)'', The Brisbane Courier, Saturday 10 December 1904, page 12
/ref>

Public service

Jeays was an

of 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 ...

, from 1859 to 1867, including serving as mayor in 1864. He also served on a number of committees, including: * Improvement Committee 1860 - 1867 * Bridge Committee 1862 - 1864, 1866–1867 * Water Committee 1863, 1864 * Lighting Committee 1863 * Incorporation Committee 1864 Jeays has been described as having "radical political views" and as an Orangeman and

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Legacy

Among the facilities named after him are Jeays Street in

Bowen Hills Bowen Hills is an inner north-eastern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Bowen Hills had a population of 4,898 people. Geography Bowen Hills is by road from the Brisbane centr ...

and the 'Joshua Jeays Conference Room' at the Bardon Professional Centre. Joshua's grandson Charles Joshua Jeays founded Jeays Hardware.

References

External links