12 November 1852       Thomas Worsnop

Thomas Worsnop who arrived in South Australia on 12 November 1852 had a variety of jobs before he became Town Clerk of Adelaide in 1869. He first settled at Port Elliot with his family and worked as a storeman for Elder, Stirling & Company for seven years. In 1859 he was appointed a sergeant in the SA Volunteers, for a time he worked on the land but not with great success, then as a traveller for Logue’s Brewery and in 1863 was lessee of the Globe Inn in Rundle Street, but was declared bankrupt in May 1864. He then worked as a teamster in the north. In September 1866 he became a clerk in the Town Clerk’s department and on 11 January 1869 was appointed acting town clerk taking over permanently later that year. He was a good administrator and was able to reduce the debt of the city council. He was also most concerned with protecting the parklands. In 1878 he wrote a detailed History of the City of Adelaide and later published several papers on Aboriginal artefacts and weapons. He died on 24 January 1898 at his home in Barnard Street, North Adelaide.

Bede Nairn (ed), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 6, p.440.