Family background
Thomas Ross was born on 19 August 1866 in Sydney, son of Joseph Ross and Christina Fraser. He married Elizabeth Ann Tye (1865-1953) on 23 January 1895 in Sydney and they had 2 sons. Thomas Ross died on 28 December 1936 at his residence, ’Bottles’ Woolooware Road, Cronulla, aged 71 years and he was buried at Woronora Cemetery. He lived at Bourke Street, Waterloo (1910).
Occupation & interests
Thomas Ross, glass bottle maker, was declared bankrupt in 1897. He was the Manager of the Crown Crystal Glass Co of Sydney in 1936. Ross vigorously advocated a subsidy for the local brass band, stressing the great pleasure residents derived from musical selections played in Waterloo Park. ross was a promoter of the Alexandria-Waterloo Working Men’s Institute opened on 31 August 1908, with its library and other recreational facilities.
Community activity
Thomas Ross was a justice of the peace (JP). He was on the board of the South Sydney Hospital 1909.
Local government service
Thomas Ross was an alderman on Waterloo Council in 1903-13 representing South Ward. He was mayor in 1908.
References
‘Municipal Elections’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 January 1903, p.8, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14488160
‘Alexandria-Waterloo Working Men’s Institute’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 September 1908, p10: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15021939
‘Rats, Stenches and Smoke’, Evening News, 23 September 1910, p.10, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/115257929
‘Suburban Municipalities’, The Sun, 7 January 1911, p. 7 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221580466
Barrie Dyster, ‘Ross, Thomas (Tom) (1866–1936)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ross-thomas-tom-13281/text23855, published first in hardcopy 2005, accessed online 24 November 2016.