Family background
Edward Horne was born on 25 September 1846 at Surrey England, son of Edward Horne and Jane nee Weller. On 14 June 1870 he married Caroline Hirst at All Saints Church Haggerston, Middlesex. They arrived at Sydney in 1871. He died at 1 Westmoreland Street Forest Lodge on 31 May 1930, aged 84 years. Caroline Horne died 28 September 1920, aged 71 years.
Occupation & interests
Edward Horne, a Westmoreland Street Glebe resident from 1871, prospered as a local builder and contractor. Builders with local addresses, operating on a small scale, predominated in Glebe. Small builders had a flexibility to bend with market movements, shifting from repairing or jobbing to construction whenever the mood, dictated by availability of capital, changed.
Community activity
Between 1859 and 1917, of the 82 men elected to Glebe Council, two groups – the building industry with thirteen aldermen, and the real estate industry (house and land agents, commission agents) with 10 aldermen, had the strongest representation.
Local government service
The era of heavy municipal expenditure came to an end with the onset of the 1890s depression. During Horne’s years on Glebe Council it was confronted with depreciating land values and growing rate arrears. The number of council workers was reduced and Glebe Council by 1897 had a debt of 39,060 pounds.
References
Sydney Morning Herald, 14 February 1893, p. 2
Sydney Morning Herald, 7 February 1896, p. 5
Daily Telegraph, 15 October, 1898
Sydney Morning Herald, 1 February, 1905 p. 8
Sydney Morning Herald, 2 June 1930, p. 10