Thompson, Abraham Hamilton

Although a wealth of material exists about Toowoomba’s first Mayor, William Henry Groom, little is known about the city’s second municipal respresentative, Abraham Hamilton Thompson.

From an 1869 report in Toowoomba’s first newspaper, The Darling Downs Gazette, it can be assumed Thompson, an Irishman, was about 27 years of age when elected an alderman of the newly-formed council in 1862.

He was elected Mayor in 1863 and held the position until June 1864. He remained an alderman on the council until late in 1864.

Thompson is the only Mayor not represented by photograph in Council’s records.

The Darling Downs Gazette dated January 30, 1896, records the death of the former Mayor at his father’s property in Ireland:

“On 6th November 1868 at the residence of his father, Bay View, County Denegal, Ireland, Abraham Hamilton Thompson (aged 33 years) Esq., J.P., Forest Mount, Queensland. Late Mayor of Toowoomba.”

Local historian Miss H.A. Frawley believes Forest Mount was located in the Drayton area on the old Wellcamp Road.

In the 1860’s, the road was the main route used by the pastoralists when traveling to the western Downs from Drayton and Toowoomba.