Thomas Reynolds

Thomas Reynolds (c. 1817–1875) was the fifth Premier of South Australia from 9 May 1860 8 October 1861.

He was born in England in 1817 or 1818, and on leaving school had experience in the grocery business. He came to South Australia in 1840 as an early colonist at the invitation of his brother, who had a draper's shop at Adelaide. Soon afterwards Reynolds opened a grocer's shop, was successful for a time, but like many others fell into financial difficulties when the gold rush began.

He became an alderman in the Adelaide City Council in 1854, but a few months afterwards resigned to enter the South Australian Legislative Council. In 1857 he was elected for Sturt in the first South Australian House of Assembly. From September 1857 to June 1858 he was commissioner of public works in the Hanson ministry, and in May 1860 he became premier and treasurer.

The next year his ministry was reconstructed and he resigned as premier on 8 October 1861. He was treasurer in the second Waterhouse ministry from October 1861 to February 1862, and in the second Dutton ministry from March to September 1865. He held the same position in the fourth and fifth Ayers ministries from May 1867 to September 1868 and from October to November 1868. He was commissioner of crown lands in the seventh Ayers ministry from March 1872 to July 1873.

Early in 1873 he visited Darwin where there was a gold-rush, and found matters completely disorganized. Many of the official staff had not only taken up claims but had been allowed leave of absence to look after their mines. Reynolds did his best to restore order and returned to Adelaide where he reported favourably on the mineral resources of the north. Not finding himself in agreement with his colleagues in the ministry he retired from parliament and went to Darwin. He was not successful there, and was returning to Adelaide on the Gothenburg which was wrecked near the Great Barrier Reef on 24 February 1875, and he was drowned. He was married to Miss Litchfield, who lost her life in the same shipwreck. He was survived by two sons.

Reynolds was a shrewd business man, a hard worker, and a good treasurer, but was of too sanguine and fiery a temperament to be a politician of the first rank. He was a pioneer in jam-making and raisin-curing in South Australia, but his devotion to his parliamentary duties led sometimes to the neglect of his own financial interests. He was also a leader in the total abstinence movement in Adelaide.

External links

*Dictionary of Australian Biography at Project Gutenberg
*The South Australian Register and The South Australian Advertiser, 8 March 1875; E. Hodder, The History of South Australia; P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.
*SA Parliament profile

This article contains text derived from the Dictionary of Australian Biography hosted at Project Gutenberg