Thomas Courthope Gull (1832 – 5 January 1878) was an early settler 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 ...

who served as a member of the colony's Legislative Council from 1870 to 1872. Born in

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, Gull came to Western Australia in 1852. He settled in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

(on the outskirts of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

), and went into partnership with his uncle, Samuel Adams Barker. Their merchant firm, Barker and Gull, survived until 1891, after both their deaths. Outside of that business, Gull also owned a property of at Bannister (near Williams). This property and a neighbouring property co-leased with Barker were used to rear horses. Gull first ran for parliament in 1867, in the unofficial elections held to guide the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in his nomination process. He was unsuccessful then, but in the first official elections, in 1870, contested and won the seat of Swan.Thomas Courthope Gull
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 25 June 2016. While in office, Gull was a keen advocate for the construction of what would become known as the Eastern Railway, linking Guildford with Northam. However, he was defeated at the 1872 elections by

William Locke Brockman William Locke Brockman (1802 – 28 November 1872) was an early settler in Western Australia, who became a leading pastoralist and stock breeder, and a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council. Biography Born in Kent, England in 1 ...

, and subsequently concentrated on his commercial interests. Gull died in Guildford in January 1878, aged only 46, from " congestion of the lungs"."THE LATE MR. T. C. GULL."
''The Inquirer and Commercial News'', 16 January 1878. He had married Annie Dempster in 1861, with whom he had four sons and two daughters. Two of his brothers-in-law,

Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

and Charles Edward Dempster, and a son, Arthur Courthope Gull, were also members of parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gull, Thomas 1832 births 1878 deaths Australian merchants English emigrants to colonial Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Settlers of Western Australia 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century Australian businesspeople