Thomas Cowan (5 December 1839 – 14 September 1890) served one term as a member of the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assem ...

for the

Electoral district of Yatala Yatala is a former electorate of the South Australian House of Assembly located within the cadastral Hundred of Yatala. It was one of the original Assembly districts in 1857, abolished in 1902. Yatala was also the name of an electoral district ...

Early life

Cowan who was born in

County Tyrone, Ireland County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

(now

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

), was the eldest son of John Cowan, a ploughman and shepherd, and his wife Margaret, née Lammey. Cowan, his parents and four younger siblings emigrated to

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, arriving in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

on 3 August 1852. The family initially settled in

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...

where Cowan assisted his father with a horse-drawn taxi business operating between North Adelaide and Adelaide. His father later purchased property at Two Wells (39 km north of Adelaide) where Cowan assisted with the operation of several businesses including a farm, a tavern and a post office. Cowan later started farming in the Two Wells area.

Political career

Cowan served on the District Council of Port Gawler as a councillor from 1868 to 1872 and as the chairman from 1873 to 1875. In 1875, Cowan was one of three candidates nominated for the two member district of Yatala, however his nomination papers were declared informal. The candidates declared elected, Wentworth Cavenagh and Lavington Glyde, resigned in order to hold an

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

at which Cavenagh and Cowan were successful. Cowan did not re-stand for election in 1878.

Late life

During the 1880s, Cowan encountered business difficulties and was on the verge of becoming insolvent. Cowan considered re-standing for the Electoral district of Yalata when a vacancy was created in July 1890 by the death of James Cowan, his younger brother who was one of the two current sitting members. Cowan was nominated but later stood down for medical reasons. The vacancy was subsequently filled by Richard Butler who had unsuccessfully stood for the seat earlier in 1890. Cowan died on 14 September 1890 at Milang, pre-deceased by his wife who died in June 1890 and survived by his five sons including

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

who would also serve as a South Australian parliamentarian, and one daughter.

Early life

Political career

Late life

See also

References

Further reading