Background
Thomas Proe was born in 1852 at Wigan, Lancashire, England, the son of Thomas Proe and Jane Beckman. He came to Queensland in 1876 and married Mary Strasburg (daughter of Frederick Strasburg and Frederica Mundt) in Brisbane in 1881.
Thomas Proe was born in 1852 at Wigan, Lancashire, England, the son of Thomas Proe and Jane Beckman. He came to Queensland in 1876 and married Mary Strasburg (daughter of Frederick Strasburg and Frederica Mundt) in Brisbane in 1881.
Business Thomas Proe trained as an engineer in England, but in Brisbane he became a publican. He owned the Osborne Hotel and later Royal George Hotel, Ann Street, Fortitude Valley. Public Thomas Proe was served as an alderman of the Brisbane Municipal Council from 1895 to 1905.
He was mayor of the Brisbane Municipal Council in 1901 and again in 1905 as mayor of the Brisbane City Council (Brisbane having become a city in 1903).
His service to the council, included
Finance Committee 1895, 1899, 1902, 1904
Legislative Committee 1895, 1899, 1902, 1903
Works Committee 1896, 1900–1903, 1905
Parks Committee 1896, 1900–1901
Health Committee 1900–1901
Special (Ferries) Committee 1900–1901
Building Acting Committee 1901
Special Sewerage Committee 1905
During his term as mayor, Brisbane was in 1901 visited by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and Queen Mary).
Member of Board of Waterworks 1905
Thomas Proe was president for some years of the Licensed Victuallers" Association, a member of the Brisbane Metropolitan Water Board, and a member of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers. He was also a member of the Masons.