Thomas Ormond Powell

Born
1888
Died
1964
Profession
Hairdresser, Tobacconist

Terms served on Council

Title Council From To
Alderman Redfern 1941 1947
Mayor Redfern 1944 1944

Family background

Thomas ‘Tom’ Ormond Powell was born c1888, the son of Edmund James and Alice Powell.

He married Fay Eunice Gladhall (-1976). They lived at 166 Redfern Street, Redfern.

Powell died on 25 October 1964 at Summer Hill, NSW, aged 76 years. He left a will.

Occupation & interests

Thomas Powell was a hairdresser and tobacconist.

Community activity

Thomas Powell was a founder of the Redfern Municpal Band. After opening the Redfern Free Kindergarten in 1944, Mayor Powell, a local hairdresser, told the press Redfern’s post-war programme included a civic centre with a public library, gymnasium, recreation rooms, clinics for maternal and infant welfare and an anti-tuberculosis clinic.

Local government service

Thomas Powell was alderman on Redfern Council, representing Redfern Ward in 1941-47. He was mayor in 1944. Upon his first entry into the mayoral chair he was greeted by council’s brass band playing ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow’. He was quoted as saying, ‘My wife and I got a terrible shock. We didn’t expect anything like that. It was a wonderful reception.’

References

‘Municipal Elections’, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 December 1941, p.6, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17778013
‘Brass Band Plays New Mayor into the Chair’, Daily Mirror, 18 December 1943, p.5, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article272059926
‘Barber Boosts New Loan’, Sun, 10 September 1944, p.5, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229269663
‘Clinic Preferred To Tennis Court’, Daily Telegraph, 21 March 1944, p.9, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247752927
‘Council Provides For Children’, Daily Telegraph, 1 March 1944, p.8, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247755644

Citation

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