James Cowlishaw
19 December 1834 — 25 July 1929
James Cowlishaw (11‑41‑7A)
James Cowlishaw’s association with the Toowong Cemetery spanned 59 years from the inception of the trust. He was an architect, newspaper proprietor, director and politician. James was born on 19 December 1834 in Sydney, the eldest son of Thomas Cowlishaw, architect, and his wife Maria, née Evans. Educated at St James's Grammar School, Sydney, he tried a number of jobs before studying architecture. About 1860 Cowlishaw came to Brisbane where designed the Commercial Bank of Sydney in Queen Street, the Boys' Grammar School as well as important houses, such as Bishopsbourne. He designed a store for Alexander Raff's brother's company, George Raff and Co. in 1862 and two years later, additions to Raff's Wharf.
Cowlishaw was a director of the Brisbane Courier until 1873. He became managing director of the Brisbane Telegraph in 1878 and chairman of the Telegraph Newspaper Co. from December 1879 to May 1885. Cowlishaw was a member of the Legislative Council where he was member from 1878 to 1922. In the 1920s he was described as 'the last of the old Conservative Party'; he was implacably hostile to Federation, the Labor Party and 'anything that savoured of socialism'.
A firm Methodist, he was a practical supporter of his local church for many years. He gave unobtrusively to charity and was a member of the Advisory Committee of the Hospital for Sick Children, of which his wife was president for many years. He was a justice of the peace and sat on the bench of the Brisbane Police Court. He also helped to start Brisbane's first cricket club. In his last years he lived at his home, Montpellier, Bowen Hills, which he had completed to his own design in the 1860s. He died there on 25 July 1929 of heart failure aged 94, survived by three daughters and three sons. His wife Charlotte, née Owen, whom he had married at West Maitland about 1860, predeceased him, and has one of the cemetery’s most spectacular monuments. He left an estate worth £161,563.
James Cowlishaw - The Telegraph, 11 July 1928
Headstone
