Thomas Frederick Outridge Brimage (23 July 1866 – 25 May 1915) was an Australian businessman and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Council of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1900 to 1912. He was prominent in mining circles on the

Eastern Goldfields The Eastern Goldfields is part of the Western Australian Goldfields in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, covering the present and former gold-mining area east of Perth. Extent and name origin The region encompasses the town ...

before entering politics.

Early life

Brimage was born in Ratcliff,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, to Emma (née Atkinson) and Thomas Brimage. He moved to

Port Pirie, South Australia Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South ...

, as a small child, where his father became the harbour master. After leaving school, Brimage completed an engineering apprenticeship with

South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Austr ...

, and was then employed as a mechanical draughtsman. He moved to Western Australia in 1894, during the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

, and initially set up as a consulting engineer in Coolgardie. Brimage later moved to

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

and established himself as a land agent and sharebroker. He became general manager of one major mine and a consulting engineer on several smaller ones, and also pegged out several mining claims of his own.Thomas Frederick Outridge Brimage
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 22 January 2017.

Politics and later life

In 1896, Brimage was elected to the East Coolgardie Road Board (renamed the Kalgoorlie Road Board in 1897). He served until 1899, including as chairman for a period. Brimage entered parliament at the 1900 Legislative Council election, winning a six-year term as one of three members for the new South Province. He transferred to North-East Province at the 1906 election, but was defeated in his bid for re-election in 1912, losing to

Hal Colebatch Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch (29 March 1872 – 12 February 1953) was a long-serving and occasionally controversial figure in Western Australian politics. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for nearly 20 years, the ...

(a future

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

) in East Province. After leaving politics, Brimage worked as a hotelkeeper, living for periods in Kojonup, Katanning, Northam, and Narrogin. He died in Narrogin in May 1915, aged 48, after a long illness."T. F. O. BRIMAGE"
''Narrogin Observer and Williams District Representative'', 29 May 1915. He had married Marie Louise Reynolds in 1896, with whom he had four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brimage, Thomas 1866 births 1915 deaths Australian mining engineers Australian mining entrepreneurs English emigrants to colonial Australia Mayors of places in Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People from Stepney 19th-century Australian engineers 20th-century Australian engineers 19th-century Australian businesspeople Western Australian local councillors

Early life

Politics and later life

See also

References