Family background
John Charles Mears was born c1827 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, son of John Mears and Sarah. He married (1) Miriam Pompton (1830-65) and they had 2 daughters, Sarah and Catherine, before arriving in Sydney on 5 July 1855 by the vessel ’Blenheim’. He married (2) Ann Harrop (-1891) on 23 July 1875 at St Silas Church of England, Waterloo, NSW. He married (3) Jessie Dickson (-1920) on 27 May 1892 in Redfern, NSW. Mears died on 10 January 1911 at his residence ’Blenheim’ Marrickville Road, Marrickville, NSW, aged 83 year and he was buried in the Anglican Section of Rookwood Cemetery. He left a Will and his estate and assets were assessed at £1,383. He lived at Botany Street, Waterloo (1868).
Occupation & interests
John Mears was a builder. In the early 1870s, Mears advertised a number of properties – houses and cottages – for letting.
Local government service
John Charles Mears was an alderman on Waterloo Council in 1866-68 representing East Ward. Mears was a member of the committee engaged with the preparations for the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit to Waterloo in 1868. He was the chairman of the Improvement Committee in 1868.
Mears was proposed as an alderman for the Surry Hills ward of Redfern Council in 1869 but was not elected to the council until February 1872. In September he tendered his resignation, ‘in consequence of having determined to remove his residence from Redfern’.
References
‘Suburban Municipal Elections’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 February 1866, p. 5, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13125986
‘The Duke of Edinburgh at the Borough of Waterloo’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 February 1868, p.5: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13156296
‘Government Notices’, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 November 1870, p. 8, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13209728
‘Amusements’, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 February 1872, p. 10, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13252864
‘Borough Councils’, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 September 1872, p. 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13264050
‘Government Notices’, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 March 1870, p. 8, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28419730
‘Borough Councils’, Sydney Morning Herald, 4 February 1869, p. 7, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28420635
‘Borough of Redfern’, NSW Government Gazette, 16 February 1872 (No.47), p. 435, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/223086351