Thomas Reynolds (Australian politician)

The Right Honourable Thomas Reynolds
Premier of South Australia
In office 9 May 1860 – 8 October 1861
Monarch	Victoria
Governor	Sir Richard MacDonnell
Preceded by	Sir Richard Hanson
Succeeded by	George Waterhouse
Treasurer of South Australia
In office 13 October 1868 – 3 November 1868
Premier	Sir Henry Ayers
Preceded by	Neville Blyth
Succeeded by	Henry Kent Hughes
In office 3 May 1867 – 24 September 1868
Premier	Sir Henry Ayers
Preceded by	Walter Duffield
Succeeded by	Neville Blyth
In office 22 March 1865 – 20 September 1865
Premier	Francis Dutton
Preceded by	John Hart
Succeeded by	Sir Arthur Blyth
In office 17 October 1861 – 19 February 1862
Premier	George Waterhouse
Preceded by	Sir Arthur Blyth
Succeeded by	Sir Arthur Blyth
In office 9 May 1860 – 8 October 1861
Premier	himself
Preceded by	B. T. Finniss
Succeeded by	Sir Arthur Blyth
Commissioner of Public Works
In office 30 September 1857 – 12 June 1858
Premier	Richard Hanson
Preceded by	Samuel Davenport
Succeeded by	Arthur Blyth
Member of the Parliament of South Australia
In office 14 December 1871 – 28 August 1873
Preceded by	Arthur Lindsay
Succeeded by	Arthur Lindsay
Constituency	Encounter Bay
In office 5 November 1864 – 27 March 1870
Preceded by	William Bakewell
Succeeded by	David Murray
Constituency	East Adelaide
In office 2 May 1862 – 9 November 1862
Preceded by	J.M. Solomon
Succeeded by	seat abolished
Constituency	City Of Adelaide
In office 2 July 1854 – 17 February 1862
Constituency	Legislative Council (1854–1857) Sturt (1857–1860) City Of Adelaide (1860–1862)
Personal details
Born	27 January 1818 London, England
Died	25 February 1875(1875-02-25) (aged 57) Great Barrier Reef, Queensland
Spouse	Anne Litchfield

Thomas Reynolds (27 January 1818 – 25 February 1875) was the fifth Premier of South Australia, serving from 9 May 1860 to 8 October 1861. He served five non-continuous terms as Treasurer.

Reynolds was born in England in 1818, and on leaving school had experience in the grocery business. He came to South Australia in 1840 as an early colonist at the invitation of his brother, who had a draper's shop at Adelaide. The brother had died by the time Thomas Reynolds arrived and he soon opened a grocer's shop, was successful for a time, but like many others fell into financial difficulties when the gold rush began.

Reynolds became an alderman in the Adelaide City Council in 1854, succeeding William Paxton, but a few months afterwards resigned to enter the unicameral South Australian Legislative Council. In 1857 he was elected for Sturt in the first South Australian House of Assembly, a seat he held until 12 March 1860. From September 1857 to June 1858 he was commissioner of public works in the Hanson ministry. On 13 March 1860, Reynolds changed seats to City of Adelaide and on 9 May 1860 he became Premier and Treasurer of South Australia.

Reynolds resigned as premier and treasurer on 8 October 1861. He was treasurer in the second Waterhouse ministry from 17 October 1861 to 19 February 1862, and in the second Dutton ministry from March to September 1865. He held the same position in the fourth and fifth Ayers ministries from May 1867 to September 1868 and from October to November 1868. He was commissioner of crown lands in the seventh Ayers ministry from March 1872 to July 1873. Reynolds represented East Adelaide from 5 November 1864 to 27 March 1870 and Encounter Bay from 14 December 1871 to 2 February 1872 and 29 February 1872 to 28 August 1873.

Some years earlier his interest in the Northern Territory had been stimulated by reports from his nephew, Frederick Henry Litchfield. Early in 1873 he visited Darwin where there was a gold-rush, and found matters completely disorganized. Many of the official staff had not only taken up claims but had been allowed leave of absence to look after their mines. Reynolds did his best to restore order and returned to Adelaide where he reported favourably on the mineral resources of the north. Not finding himself in agreement with his colleagues in the ministry he retired from parliament and went to Darwin. He was not successful there, and was returning to Adelaide on the SS Gothenburg which was wrecked in a tropical cyclone near the Great Barrier Reef on 24 February 1875, and he was drowned. He was married to Anne Litchfield, and had two sons. Anne died in the same shipwreck.

Long associated with the total abstinence (temperance) movement in Adelaide, Reynolds was known as "Teapot Tommy". Reynolds was a shrewd business man, a hard worker, and a good treasurer, but was of too sanguine and fiery a temperament to be a politician of the first rank. He was a pioneer in jam-making and raisin-curing in South Australia, but his devotion to his parliamentary duties led sometimes to the neglect of his own financial interests.

Sources

• Gordon D. Combe, 'Reynolds, Thomas (1818–1875)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 6, Melbourne University Press, 1976, pp 23–24.
• Serle, Percival (1949). "Reynolds, Thomas". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
• Reynolds, Thomas: Australian Dictionary of Biography
• Reynolds, Thomas Australian Dictionary of Biography

External links

• The South Australian Register and The South Australian Advertiser, 8 March 1875
• Hodder, E., The History of South Australia
• Mennell, Philip (1892). "Reynolds, Hon. Thomas" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.