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John Clarke Foote
(1822 – 1895) best known for his partnership with
Benjamin Cribb and their store Cribb and Foote, also gave Swanbank
its name in reference to his wife’s birth place in Scotland. He began
his working life as a chemist and his skills were greatly valued on his
voyage to Australia in 1850 when the “black death” broke out
amongst the passengers. After a couple of years in Brisbane, John
Foote moved to Ipswich and took over the management of the
general store owned by Benjamin Cribb and their partnership
developed. In 1877 he joined the Legislative Council and continued
his strong advocacy for Ipswich and the district. He was one of
the trustees of Ipswich Grammar School and a vice president of
the Queensland Pastoral and Agricultural Society. John Clarke
Foote was also very involved in the Wesleyan Church, where he
conducted Bible classes for young men. He died at his home
at the corner of Thorn and South Streets on 20 August 1895.
Lewis Thomas
(1832 – 1913) was born in Wales and came to Australia
in July of 1859 with a wealth of hard won experience to back his
foray into the new coalfields of West Moreton. His canny
expansions coincided with the rail boom and his wealth earned
him the moniker of ‘Coal King’. His success and profile acted as a
magnet for Welsh migration to the area. A Welsh community
established itself at Blackstone around his mansion “Brynhyfryd”
(built in 1891, it no longer stands), and he used part of his wealth to
endow scholarships, choirs and eisteddfods, a cultural legacy which
endures to this day. He entered politics in 1893 and served in a
range of positions until his death in 1913. Coincidentally, his only
child (Mary) married Thomas Bridson Cribb, the grandson of
Benjamin Cribb.
James Wilkinson
(1854 – 1915) is known for the endearing quirk of
having been elected to all levels of Australian government, starting
with Federal, then State and finally the Ipswich Council.
Sir James William Blair KCMG
(1870 – 1944) was born in Coalfalls
and initially educated by his Irish mother. He went on to become a
barrister of great rhetorical skill. Receiving recognition in the legal
profession, he then entered politics in the election of 1902,
becoming the Attorney-General for Queensland in 1903 at the age
of just 33. He was instrumental in the development and enactment
of a number of Acts and Amendments in Queensland law. He left
politics in 1915 and re-focussed his energies on the legal profession
and became a Judge in 1922 and then Chief Justice in 1925. He was
knighted in 1930, became the Lieutenant-Governor in May of 1933,
and was appointed KCMG (The Most Distinguished Order of Saint
Michael and Saint George, Knight Commander) on 3 June 1935 in the
King’s Jubilee Honours. He remained active in the community
throughout his life (including the role of Chancellor of the
University of Queensland) and was known for his kindness and
genuine interest in others.
Jeffrey “Jeff” Cooper
(born 1953) rose above an abusive childhood
and left home at 15 to find his own way in the world. He started
training as a technician in the Post Master General’s office
(the PMG later to become Telecom and then Telstra) but soon
left in order to start his first entrepreneurial endeavors. He traded
crocodiles at 16, and went on to acquire four houses, three
laundromats and several hundred Space Invader machines by
the age of 22.
He was a councillor on the Moreton Shire Council for nine years
(1979 – 1985), built his first caravan park in his mid-20s, and owned
his first shopping centre before he was 30. He continued to acquire
businesses and properties in the Ipswich region and now controls
several dozen companies and around 140 properties. Diagnosed
with Parkinson’s disease in 1994, he continued to build his business
empire to incorporate shopping centres, caravan parks, motels,
residential developments, industrial estates and the grand old
Woodlands Estate and Winery at Marburg.
In June 2009, Cooper published his biography “The House That Jeff
Built”, and funds raised from book sales will be donated to further
research into the deep brain stimulation treatment that helped him
to manage his Parkinson’s disease.
Maha Sinnathamby
(born 1939) migrated to Australia in his late
teens, and studied civil engineering at the University of New South
Wales. He started his first property business in Perth in 1976.
In the early 80s he identified the great opportunities in the Ipswich
region and moved his young family to Queensland.
In 1992, with business partner Bob Sharpless, he secured the
purchase of a 2,860-hectare parcel of land in Ipswich for $7.9 million
and became Chairman of Springfield Land Corporation which was
established in conjunction with the purchase. Greater Springfield
has become Australia’s first privately-built city and the country’s
largest master planned community. In May of 2010 Greater
Springfield received international recognition by winning the
“Excellence in Master Planned” category at the 61st World Congress
of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) awards.
Proud of his Sri Lankan Tamil roots and conscious of the hardships
his parents and their generation experienced, he and his family live
modestly in suburban Brisbane. He is known for his persistence and
the family saying “It’s never a no, until it’s a yes”.
Stephen Williams
came to Ipswich in 1999 with a vision and
proceeded to contribute significantly to the development of
the region by spearheading major projects such as the Bremer
Business Park, Riverlink Shopping Centre, Swanbank Enterprise Park
and Ripley Valley. His contribution to the Ipswich region extends
beyond the professionalism and integrity of his business dealings
and into the cultural life of the city. In particular was the
generous and thoughtful 2006 purchase by his company, Wingate
Properties, of the glorious cedar pedestal sideboard and cedar
tilt-top centre table, both made in the 1860s and the property at
that time of Benjamin Cribb. This furniture graced the Cribb
family residence “Goolawan”, built on Denmark Hill in 1864 until
the family of an ailing Viva Cribb, Benjamin Cribb’s grand-daughter,
sold many household items. These two important pieces of
Ipswich’s heritage (and the money required for their restoration)
were donated to the Ipswich Art Gallery where they remain on
permanent display, a moving and fitting gift of the past to the
people of Ipswich from someone so closely involved in building
the city’s future.
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