John Thomas Cole (2 November 1854 – 13 May 1927) was an Australian dairy farmer and cattle breeder. He was born at

Jamberoo Jamberoo is a village on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia in the Municipality of Kiama. It is approximately 11.3 km inland from Kiama. At the , Jamberoo had a population of 1,910. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal w ...

to emancipist farmer William Cole and Annabella Mackenzie. He was involved in stock shows from 1876 in partnership with his brother Jim. On 6 November 1882 he married Margaret Thorburn. He expanded his property holdings and moved away from the partnership to show cattle alone. On 6 March 1889 he married for a second time, to Agnes Dixon Lamond, with whom he had a daughter. From 1882 to 1890 he was an alderman at

Kiama Kiama may refer to: * Electoral district of Kiama, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Kiama, New South Wales, a town * Kiama (spider), a genus of spiders *Municipality of Kiama The Municipality of Kiama is a local government ar ...

, and he was an unsuccessful

Free Trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

candidate for

at the

1889 Events January * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the Dakotas ...

and

1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...

elections. In 1895 he moved to

Nowra Nowra () is a city in the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated po ...

, and he later relocated to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, where he promoted the dairy industry, particularly co-operation across the colony. From 1899 he was manager of the Scottish Australian Investment Company's farms near

Adaminaby Adaminaby is a small town near the Snowy Mountains north-west of Cooma, New South Wales, Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council. The historic town, of 301 people at the , is a trout fishing centre and winter spo ...

, where he integrated his own

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

stock. In 1907–08 he transferred to Darbalara. In the ongoing contention between the

Milking Shorthorn The Dairy Shorthorn is a British breed of dairy cattle. It derives from the Shorthorn cattle of Teesside, in the North Riding of Yorkshire and in Northumbria (now divided between County Durham and Northumberland) in north-eastern England. ...

and Illawarra Dairy Cattle strains, Cole was the leader of the Milking Shorthorn party, and his animals won most awards for the breed in the 1910s and early 1920s. A 1915 account in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' noted: His herd at Darbalara was the first to receive regular government testing, and it was publicised widely. One of his cows broke world production records twice, and he was awarded by the New South Wales Chamber of Agriculture in 1925 for eminent service. Until at least the 1950s his Darbalara strain was considered the world's greatest butterfat producing cow. In 1926 the Darbalara herd was discontinued, and Cole retired. He died at

Glebe A glebe (, also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s)) is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church. ...

in 1927, at the age of 72. His will was probated in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Tom 1854 births 1927 deaths Australian stockmen People from New South Wales Dairy farmers Colony of New South Wales people