Edwards, Thomas Sims
EDWARDS, Thomas Sims jnr (1859–1898) was born at Creswick, Victoria, son of Thomas Edwards and Elizabeth Prideaux. After his paternal grandmother died in childbirth in 1846, the family migrated to South Australia where Thomas Edwards was said to have worked at Burra, South Australia when it was at its most profitable, before moving to Victoria where he married Elizabeth Prideaux at Ballarat in 1857. He may have joined the ‘duffer-rush’ to Canoona on the Fitzroy River in 1858 but soon returned to Victoria where he spent the 1860s on the gold fields north of Ballarat, sufficiently successfully to send his eldest son Thomas Sims to England for his education (an opportunity not shared by his siblings). By 1877, the family had moved to Queensland where he was based at Ravenswood before moving to Charters Towers in 1881. In 1882 he was manager of the rich Day Dawn Mine and by 1894, of the Defiance Quartz Crushing Mill. In Reading, England, Thomas jnr was articled to the architect Frederick William Albury, ARIBA (1845–1912), perhaps through an introduction from an architect on the Victorian goldfields. Subsequently in London, Thomas jnr worked for various architectural offices and in private practice. After returning to Australia c1887, he worked in Brisbane briefly with the architect AB WILSON before he joined the Public Works Department as a temporary draftsman late in 1888, following an introduction to the Colonial Architect from Victor CARANDINI with whom he may also have worked. His appointment was short-lived as economic conditions deteriorated. After moving to Charters Towers, Edward was appointed in 1891 as a Lieutenant in the Mounted Infantry of the Queensland Defence Force, based initially at Winton to counter civil unrest associated with the Shearers Strike. He married Edith Esther Hobson at Townsville in January 1894. By 1898 he was licensee of the Gladstone Hotel at Charters Towers where in January 1898, during a prolonged heat wave, Edwards died from “heat apoplexy”. No works in Queensland have been identified.
Employment
Education
Migration and Travel
Genealogy
[PGF] Samuel Edwards (1810–1876) b. c1810, Kenwyn, Cornwall, Eng; d. 15 Mar 1876, Clunes, Vic.
[S, 1833, St Agnes, Cornwall / M] Elizabeth Pearce (1814–1846) b. 1814, St Keverne, Cornwall, Eng; d. 13 Nov 1846, St Agnes, Cornwall, Eng.
[4C/1-4B / F] Thomas Edwards (1834–1894) b. 1834, Blackwater, St Agnes, Cornwall, Eng; d. 5 Aug 1894, Charters Towers, Qld.
[S, 1857, Ballarat / M] Elizabeth Prideaux (1835–1890) b. 19 Aug 1835, Camborne, Cornwall, Eng; d. 12 Sep 1890, Charters Towers, Qld.
[10C/1-3G] Elizabeth Pearce Edwards. b. 1857: Ballarat East, Victoria; F: Thomas Edwards, M: Elizabeth Prideaux
[10C/1-7B]Thomas Sims EDWARDS (1859–1898) b. 1859, Creswick, Vic.; d. 1898, Charters Towers, Qld.
[S, 1894, Townsville] Edith Esther Hobson (1871–1935) b. 28 Apr 1871, East Ballarat, Vic; d. 1935, Redfern, NSW.
[C/G] Ethel May(E) Edwards (1896–1942) b. 1896, Charters Towers, Qld; d. 1942, Sydney, NSW.
[10C/2-7B] Samuel James Edwards (1862–1863) b. 1862, Creswick, Vic.; d. 1863, Creswick, Vic.
[10C/3-7B] Samuel Stephen James Edwards (1864–1922) b. 1864, Clunes, Vic; d. 16 May 1922, Charters Towers, Qld
[10C/4-7B] Henry Davies Edwards (1866–1958) b. 3 Jan 1866, Clunes, Vic.; d. 11 Jan 1958, Cairns, Qld. [1888, Charters Towers, tobacconist, insolvent; 1936, engine driver for Tully Sugar Mill)
[10C/5-7B] George Sims Edwards (1868–1936) b. 1868, Eganstown, Vic.; d. 7 Aug 1936, Qld
[10C/6-7B] John Pearce Edwards (1870–1935) b. 1870, Eganstown, Vic.; d. 9 Nov 1935, Dunwich, Qld.
[10C/2-3G] Elizabeth Pearce 2 Edwards (1872–1935) b. 8 July 1872, Eganstown, Vic.; d. 6 Nov 1935, Charters Towers, Qld.
[10C/7-7B] Adolphus Charters Edwards (1877–1937) b. 11 Dec 1877, Charters Towers Qld; d. 10 Jan 1937, Cloncurry, Qld. [foreman of works and miner]
[10C/3-3G] Irene Christabel Millicent Edwards (1880–1958) b. 11 Feb 1880, Charters Towers Qld; d. 7 June 1958, Qld.
[2-4B] Samuel Pearce Edwards (1835–1909) b. 21 June 1835, St Agnes (Truro), Cornwall, Eng; d. 1909, Boulder, WA
[3-4B] James Edwards (1837–1916) b. 1 Feb 1837, Blackwater, St Agnes, Cornwall, Eng; d. 3 Oct 1916, Arrowtown, NZ.
[4-4B] John Pearce Edwards (1846–1850) b. 1846, St Agnes, Cornwall, Eng; d. 1850, SA.
Other Activities
-1894- Secretary, Fire Brigade, Charters Towers
References
Northern Mining Register, 25 Apr 1891, 12; and 6 Aug 1894, 3; WOR/A, 1892/11169, QSA; Queenslander, 20 Jan 1894, 139; Northern Miner, 18 Jan 1898, 2; Brisbane Courier, 18 Jan 1898, 5.