John Young (1827 – 27 February 1907) was an Australian bowler, builder, politician and alderman.

Life and career

Young was born in Foot's Cray,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and died in Annandale, Sydney,

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. After moving to Victoria, Australia, in 1855, he had mixed results as a builder. He then moved to Sydney in 1866 and proceeded to make his mark. As a result, he is especially remembered as the builder of St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney (designed by

William Wardell William Wilkinson Wardell (1823–1899) was a civil engineer and architect, notable not only for his work in Australia, the country to which he emigrated in 1858, but for a successful career as a surveyor and ecclesiastical architect in En ...

), and the Johnston Street group of houses in Annandale. The most outstanding house in the group was The Abbey, a sandstone, heritage-listed house in the Victorian Free Gothic style. (Sydney folklore has it that Young took gargoyles intended for St Mary's Cathedral and used them on The Abbey). Another outstanding house was Highroyd. The house known as ''Oybin'' is also heritage-listed. The Johnston Street group originally consisted of eight houses, two of which (''Rozelle'' and ''Claremont'') have since been demolished and replaced with blocks of home units. Young himself lived in the nearby house known as ''Kentville'', which has also been demolished. Young also took an active interest in politics, unsuccessfully standing for a seat in the Legislative Assembly on five occasions, 1873 (Glebe), 1874 (East Sydney), 1880 (Newtown), 1887 (Hartley), and 1894 (Annandale). He was mayor of Leichhardt in 1879 and 1884–85,

mayor of Sydney The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor ha ...

in 1885–86, and mayor of Annandale in 1894–97. Young died of cancer at ''Kentville'' in 1907. John Young Crescent in the Canberra suburb of Greenway is named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, John Politicians from Sydney Australian Anglicans English emigrants to colonial Australia 1827 births 1907 deaths 19th-century Australian politicians Mayors of Leichhardt Mayors of Annandale Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees