Thomas Caldwell Kerr (15 August 1887 – 25 June 1956) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.

Biography

Kerr was born at Stanthorpe, Queensland, the son of John Kerr and his wife Mary (née Caldwell). He was educated at

Sherwood State School Sherwood State School is a heritage-listed state school at 464 Oxley Road, Sherwood, Queensland, Sherwood, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The buildings were built from built from 1874 to 1974. The designers included Boulton & Paul Ltd ...

and from 1905 to 1915 was a pearl sheller in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

and Thursday Island. Later on he was a public accountant and auditor with Wright, Kerr and Co. in Brisbane. He served in the First Australian Imperial Force in World War I, being based with the 31st Infantry Battalion. On 8 November 1919 he married Lillian Violet Berry (died 1954)Family history research
— Queensland Government births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. Retrieved 16 April 2016. in Brisbane and together had two sons and one daughter. One of their sons died in World War II while serving as a Spitfire Pilot in France. Kerr died in June 1956. He was cremated at

Mt Thompson Crematorium Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens and Crematorium (formerly Brisbane Crematorium) includes a heritage-listed chapel (the West Chapel), columbaria and other features. It is located on north-western slopes of Mount Thompson in Brisbane, Australia. ...

and his ashes are in the columbarium wall at St Matthew's Anglican Church,

Sherwood Sherwood may refer to: Places Australia *Sherwood, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Sherwood, South Australia, a locality *Shire of Sherwood, a former local government area of Queensland *Electoral district of Sherwood, an electoral district from ...

.Thomas Caldwell KERR 25-6-1956
— Chapel Hill Photos. Retrieved 16 April 2016.

Public life

Kerr, a member of the UAP, and later the QPP and the Liberal Party, won the seat of

Oxley Oxley may refer to: Places Australia Australian Capital Territory * Oxley, Australian Capital Territory is a suburb of Canberra, Australia Queensland *Oxley, Queensland is a suburb of Brisbane, Australia **Oxley railway station, Brisbane ...

in the Queensland Legislative Assembly in the 1943 by-election to replace

Thomas Nimmo Thomas Nimmo (27 July 1879 – 6 February 1943) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Biography Nimmo was born at Ipswich, Queensland, the son of Andrew Nimmo and his wife Agnes (née Reilly). He was educated at the Ipswich Stat ...

who had died in February of that year. He was to represent the seat until it was abolished before the 1950 state election. He then moved to the new seat of

, holding it for six years until he retired from politics in 1956. He collapsed and died a month later in his Queen Street office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Thomas Caldwell Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1887 births 1956 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians People from Stanthorpe, Queensland