John Thomas Cole (2 November 1854 – 13 May 1927) was an Australian dairy farmer and cattle breeder. He was born at Jamberoo to emancipist farmer William Cole and Annabella Mackenzie. He was involved in stock shows from 1876 in partnership with his brother Jim. On 6 November 1882 he married Margaret Thorburn. He expanded his property holdings and moved away from the partnership to show cattle alone. On 6 March 1889 he married for a second time, to Agnes Dixon Lamond, with whom he had a daughter. From 1882 to 1890 he was an alderman at Kiama, and he was an unsuccessful

Free Trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

candidate for Kiama at the

1889 Events January–March * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the ...

and

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

elections. In 1895 he moved to Nowra, and he later relocated to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where he promoted the dairy industry, particularly co-operation across the colony. From 1899 he was manager of the Scottish Australian Investment Company's farms near

Adaminaby Adaminaby is a small town near the Snowy Mountains north-west of Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council. The historic town, of 301 people at the , is a trout fishing centre and winter sports destination situated ...

, where he integrated his own

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

stock. In 1907–08 he transferred to Darbalara. In the ongoing contention between the

Milking Shorthorn The Dairy Shorthorn is a British list of cattle breeds, breed of dairy cattle. It derives from the Shorthorn cattle of Tees-side, in the North Riding of Yorkshire and in Northumbria (now divided between County Durham and Northumberland) in nor ...

and Illawarra Dairy Cattle strains, Cole was the leader of the Milking Shorthorn party, and his animals won most awards for the breed in the 1910s and early 1920s. A 1915 account in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' noted: His herd at Darbalara was the first to receive regular government testing, and it was publicised widely. One of his cows broke world production records twice, and he was awarded by the New South Wales Chamber of Agriculture in 1925 for eminent service. Until at least the 1950s his Darbalara strain was considered the world's greatest butterfat producing cow. In 1926 the Darbalara herd was discontinued, and Cole retired. He died at Glebe in 1927, at the age of 72. His will was probated in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Tom 1854 births 1927 deaths Australian stockmen People from New South Wales Dairy farmers Colony of New South Wales people