Thomas Proe

{{Short description|Australian politician (1852-1922)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=March 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Thomas Proe | honorific_suffix = | image = Thomas Proe - Mayor of Brisbane.jpg | caption = Thomas Proe in his mayoral robes – 1905 | order = 30th | office = Mayor of Brisbane | term_start = 1901 | term_end = 1901 | predecessor = James Robinson | successor = Leslie Corrie | term_start1 = 1905 | term_end1 = 1905 | predecessor1 = Thomas Rees | successor1 = John Crase | birth_date = 1852 | birth_place = Wigan, Lancashire, England | death_date = 17 December 1922 (aged 69 or 70) | death_place = Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | resting_place = Toowong Cemetery | birth_name = Thomas Proe | party = | other_party = | spouse = Mary Strasburg (m.1881 d.1924) | known_for = | occupation = Engineer, Publican | relations = | alma_mater = }}

'''Thomas Proe''' (1852–1922) was an alderman and mayor of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

==Personal life== Thomas Proe was born in 1852 at Wigan, Lancashire, England, the son of Thomas Proe and Jane Beckman.<ref name="bc"/><ref name="bdm"/>

He came to Queensland in 1876 and married Mary Strasburg (daughter of Frederick Strasburg and Frederica Mundt) in Brisbane in 1881. They had seven children:<ref name="bc"/><ref name="bdm"/><ref name="friends"/> * Frederick Thomas (born 1882, died 1886)<ref name="bdm">[https://www.bdm.qld.gov.au/IndexSearch/BirIndexQry.m Queensland Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages]</ref> * Ethel Mary (born 1884, died 1888)<ref name="bdm"/> * Martha Jane Jubilee (born 1887, married John McClew MacGibbon in 1928)<ref name="bdm"/> * Bertha (born 1889, married Hector Marwick in 1915)<ref name="bdm"/> * Eveline Mary (born 1893)<ref name="bdm"/> * Victor Thomas (born 1897, married Mabel Annie Sinnamon in 1921)<ref name="bdm"/> * Cara May Gladys (born 1901, married Lancelot Walter Trout in 1925)<ref name="bdm"/>

Proe died on 17 December 1922 at his residence "Wyralla", Mark street, New Farm, aged 71 years. He is buried in Toowong Cemetery. His wife died in 1924 and is buried with him.<ref name="bc">[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20591103 Obituary], Brisbane Courier, Wednesday 20 December 1922, p. 15</ref><ref name="bdm"/><ref name="friends">[https://www.fotc.au/stories/brisbane-mayors/ "Brisbane Mayors"], Friends of Toowong Cemetery Association Inc</ref><ref>[https://online.brisbane.qld.gov.au/cemeteries/cemeteries_step3.jsp?mapdisplay=141617 Proe, Thomas & Proe, Mary] Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search</ref>

==Business life== Thomas Proe trained as an engineer in England, but in Brisbane he became a publican. He owned the Osborne Hotel and later Royal George Hotel, Ann Street, Fortitude Valley.<ref name="bc"/><ref name="friends"/><ref name="bcc"/>

==Public life== Thomas Proe was served as an alderman of the Brisbane Municipal Council from 1895 to 1905. He was mayor of the Brisbane Municipal Council in 1901 and again in 1905 as mayor of the Brisbane City Council (Brisbane having become a city in 1903). His service to the council, included<ref name="bc"/><ref name="friends"/><ref name="bcc">[http://elibcat.library.brisbane.qld.gov.au/uhtbin/cgisirsi/S/ZZELIBCAT/0/5/1?searchdata1=339396{ckey} Brisbane City Council Archives]</ref> * Finance Committee 1895, 1899, 1902, 1904 * Legislative Committee 1895, 1899, 1902, 1903 * Works Committee 1896, 1900–1903, 1905 * Parks Committee 1896, 1900–1901 * Health Committee 1900–1901 * Special (Ferries) Committee 1900–1901 * Building Act Committee 1901 * Special Sewerage Committee 1905 * Member of Board of Waterworks 1905

During his term as mayor, Brisbane was in 1901 visited by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and Queen Mary). In recognition of his work for that occasion, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) 15 May 1901.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27314 |date=17 May 1901 |page=3379}}</ref>

Thomas Proe was president for some years of the Licensed Victuallers' Association, a member of the Brisbane Metropolitan Water Board,<ref name="bc"/> and a member of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers.<ref name="bcc"/>

He was also a member of the Masons.<ref name="bcc"/>

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://elibcat.library.brisbane.qld.gov.au/uhtbin/cgisirsi/20100619221847/SIRSI/0/520/BCC-B120-32306 Photo of Thomas Proe, as mayor in 1901]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Proe, Thomas}} Category:Mayors and lord mayors of Brisbane Category:Colony of Queensland people Category:Burials at Toowong Cemetery Category:1852 births Category:1922 deaths