Richard Ash Kingsford
Encyclopedia
Richard Ash Kingsford was an alderman
and mayor
of Brisbane Municipal Council
, a Member of the Legislative Assembly
of Queensland
, Australia
, and a mayor
of Cairns, Queensland
.
, Kent
, England
, the son of John Kingsford and Mary Anne Walker.
Richard Ash Kingsford married Sarah Southerden in the December quarter of 1851 at Bridge, Kent
, England
.
Richard and Sarah emigrated to Sydney in 1852 and went on to Brisbane in 1854.
Richard was a devout Baptist
and a lay preacher and one of the founders of the Wharf Street Baptist Church, now the City Tabernacle.
Richard and Sarah had the following children:
On 17 April 1878, while living at the Springs, Tingalpa, his eldest daughter Catherine married William Charles Smith. Because of the confusions caused by having such a common name as Smith, the couple adopted the surname Kingsford-Smith and were the parents of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith
.
On 8 April 1885, daughter Caroline married William Swallow, son of Thomas Swallow.
Richard and Sarah moved to Cairns around 1883, where son-in-law William Smith was working as a bank manager. Some time after his failure in the 1888 election in Cairns, the couple moved to Tasmania
. Sarah died at Fairview House, Launceston
, Tasmania
on 13 September 1890.
On 31 August 1892 Richard Ash Kingsford married Emma Jane Dexter in Launceston
, Tasmania
. The couple had a daughter Dorothy, born 20 June 1893 in Tasmania
.
Richard returned to Cairns in 1895 where he built a magnificent cedar and hardwood home called "Fairview" on the prominent Munros Hill. It had 28 bedrooms and was completed in 1896. Richard spent his retirement in the home, until his death on 2 Jan 1902 in Cairns, North Queensland
, Australia
at age 80. He was buried in the Cairns Pioneer Cemetery in McLeod Street.
with his brother John in the 1860s.
Later (around 1878) he had a poultry farm at the Springs, Tingalpa, east of Brisbane
.
His daughter Catherine and her husband William Charles Smith, a bank manager, had moved to Cairns. About 1883, Richard and Sarah Kingsford followed them there and established a fruit farm near Kuranda
. In 1890 he bought the Hambledon sugar plantation from Thomas Swallow (father-in-law of Richard's daughter Caroline) and then leased it back to his sons Swallow Bros. Richard sold the plantation in 1897 to the Colonial Sugar Refining Company
.
He also served as an alderman on the South Brisbane Municipal Council in 1875-76 and was elected mayor of Brisbane in 1876.
Following his move to Cairns, he was elected chairman of the Cairns Divisional Board in 1884. On 28 May 1885, Cairns was declared a municipality and Richard Ash Kingsford was unanimously elected mayor by the aldermen at the council's first meeting on 22 July. He was mayor
of Cairns 1885-1886 and in 1889.
In 1888 Kingsford stood for election in the Cairns seat of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, but was defeated by Frederick Thomas Wimble, founder and editor of the Cairns Post.
The main restaurant Kingsford's in the Cairns International Hotel is named after Richard Ash Kingsford.
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
and mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Brisbane Municipal Council
Brisbane Municipal Council
-History:On 7 September 1859, Brisbane was proclaimed a municipality. Thus after the passing of the Municipal Institutions Act 1864 the area could establish a municipal council to administer the district - with powers relating to by-laws, to rating, to borrowings, to the control or regulation of...
, a Member of the Legislative Assembly
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
of Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and a mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Cairns, Queensland
Cairns, Queensland
Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was...
.
Personal life
Richard Ash Kingsford was born on 2 October 1821 in CanterburyCanterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the son of John Kingsford and Mary Anne Walker.
Richard Ash Kingsford married Sarah Southerden in the December quarter of 1851 at Bridge, Kent
Bridge, Kent
Bridge is a village and civil parish near Canterbury in Kent, South East England.Bridge village is situated in the Nailbourne valley in a rural setting on the old Roman road, Watling Street, formerly the main road between London and Dover...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Richard and Sarah emigrated to Sydney in 1852 and went on to Brisbane in 1854.
Richard was a devout Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
and a lay preacher and one of the founders of the Wharf Street Baptist Church, now the City Tabernacle.
Richard and Sarah had the following children:
- Catherine Mary, born 1857 in Brisbane
- Emily Jane, born 1859 in Brisbane
- Caroline Elizabeth, born 1861 in Brisbane
- a son
On 17 April 1878, while living at the Springs, Tingalpa, his eldest daughter Catherine married William Charles Smith. Because of the confusions caused by having such a common name as Smith, the couple adopted the surname Kingsford-Smith and were the parents of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith
Charles Kingsford Smith
Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith MC, AFC , often called by his nickname Smithy, was an early Australian aviator. In 1928, he earned global fame when he made the first trans-Pacific flight from the United States to Australia...
.
On 8 April 1885, daughter Caroline married William Swallow, son of Thomas Swallow.
Richard and Sarah moved to Cairns around 1883, where son-in-law William Smith was working as a bank manager. Some time after his failure in the 1888 election in Cairns, the couple moved to Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. Sarah died at Fairview House, Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
on 13 September 1890.
On 31 August 1892 Richard Ash Kingsford married Emma Jane Dexter in Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. The couple had a daughter Dorothy, born 20 June 1893 in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
.
Richard returned to Cairns in 1895 where he built a magnificent cedar and hardwood home called "Fairview" on the prominent Munros Hill. It had 28 bedrooms and was completed in 1896. Richard spent his retirement in the home, until his death on 2 Jan 1902 in Cairns, North Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
at age 80. He was buried in the Cairns Pioneer Cemetery in McLeod Street.
Business Life
Richard was a partner in a drapery business in Queen Street, BrisbaneQueen Street, Brisbane
Queen Street in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia, is one of the city's major streets. It is the city's central road, partly covered by a pedestrian mall called the Queen Street Mall. Queen Street ends at the Victoria Bridge and is bounded by two of the Brisbane River's central reaches...
with his brother John in the 1860s.
Later (around 1878) he had a poultry farm at the Springs, Tingalpa, east of Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
.
His daughter Catherine and her husband William Charles Smith, a bank manager, had moved to Cairns. About 1883, Richard and Sarah Kingsford followed them there and established a fruit farm near Kuranda
Kuranda
Kuranda or Koranda, may refer to:Place name:* Kuranda, Queensland, a town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia** Kuranda Range Highway** Kuranda Range road...
. In 1890 he bought the Hambledon sugar plantation from Thomas Swallow (father-in-law of Richard's daughter Caroline) and then leased it back to his sons Swallow Bros. Richard sold the plantation in 1897 to the Colonial Sugar Refining Company
Colonial Sugar Refining Company
The Colonial Sugar Refining Company may refer to:*CSR Limited - Australian company*Colonial Sugar Refining Company - the sugar plantations in Fiji*Chelsea Sugar Refinery - the New Zealand company formed by Colonial Sugar...
.
Public Life
In May 1875 Richard Ash Kingsford was elected by a large majority against the attorney-general, Ratcliffe Pring, for the South Brisbane seat in the Legislative Assembly, which he held until he lost it in the 1883 election.He also served as an alderman on the South Brisbane Municipal Council in 1875-76 and was elected mayor of Brisbane in 1876.
Following his move to Cairns, he was elected chairman of the Cairns Divisional Board in 1884. On 28 May 1885, Cairns was declared a municipality and Richard Ash Kingsford was unanimously elected mayor by the aldermen at the council's first meeting on 22 July. He was mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Cairns 1885-1886 and in 1889.
In 1888 Kingsford stood for election in the Cairns seat of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, but was defeated by Frederick Thomas Wimble, founder and editor of the Cairns Post.
Named in his honour
Kingsford Street in Mooroobool, Cairns is named after him.The main restaurant Kingsford's in the Cairns International Hotel is named after Richard Ash Kingsford.