Family background
William Briggs Cole was born on 1 August 1850 in NSW, son of William B Cole and Margaret. He married Sarah Kelly on 11 July 1871 in Sydney, NSW; there were four children; Annie (1871), Alice (1878), William B (1880) and Alice (1886). Cole died on 21 September 1909 at Moore Park, Sydney and he was buried in the Anglican Section of Waverley Cemetery. William Briggs Cole lived in Handover Street, Waterloo, NSW. He died intestate and after letters of administration his estate and assets were assessed at £120.
Occupation & interests
William Briggs Cole was a carpenter and builder. In 1870, Cole was declared insolvent; his address at the time was Bathurst Street, Sydney. Cole was appointed to the position of Carpenter within the Department of Mines and Agriculture, Geological Survey Branch on 28 March 1892 and he held this position until he died in 1909; his annual salary being £156.
Community activity
At a public meeting in 1882 at the Waterloo Town Hall, to take into consideration the subject of a recreational ground in the municipality, Cole moved a resolution ’that the Government being about to resume land as a recreation ground for this borough, in the opinion of this meeting the following block of land, in area about 10 acres, and bounded on the north by Kellick Street, on the south by a watercourse running into Johnson’s dam, on the west by Pitt Street, and on the east by Elizabeth Street, and known as Mount Carmel, be recommended to the Government as the most eligible site for that purpose’.
Local government service
William Briggs Cole was elected an alderman on 18 February 1882 following the resignation of Alderman William James. He was an alderman on Waterloo Council in 1882-86, and mayor in 1885.
References
‘Municipal Elections’, The Sydney Morning Herald 21 February 1882, p. 1, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13505504
‘Public Meeting at Waterloo’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 November 1882, p. 5, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13523526