Robert Cousins

Robert Cousins (7 December 1863 – 18 October 1933) was a Scottish Australian builder.

He is best known for his work constructing such heritage-listed buildings as Avonleigh, the Rockhampton Girls Grammar School and the Bulletin Building, and for establishing the company R. Cousins & Co.

Cousins is also known for his time serving with Rockhampton City Council, to which he was first elected to as an alderman in 1921.

He briefly served as the mayor of Rockhampton from 1929 to 1930 following the resignations of Thomas Dunlop and that of Dunlop's successor, Joseph Jeffries, who resigned as mayor just five days after being appointed to the position.

Early life Cousins was born in Glenluce and was raised in the West Highlands of Scotland. He attended school in Kilmun until the age of 15 when he began a carpentry and joinery apprenticeship in Dunoon.

Dissolution of Partnership notice, 1893In 1893, Cousins and Moir mutually agreed to dissolve the partnership with Cousins continuing on the business as R. Cousins & Co. Moir continued his own career and built such landmarks as the Lakes Creek Hotel and the Emerald Railway Station.

Cousins' son Robert Steele Cousins (more commonly referred to as Bob Cousins) completed his apprenticeship at the company and became managing director of R. Cousins & Co. in 1908. The company became a limited liability company in 1927 whose directors were all members of the Cousins family. For 65 years, the business and workshop stood in the one location on the corner of Fitzroy and East Street in the city centre.

The company also built a new brick convent building at the now infamous St Joseph's Orphanage at Neerkol.

The company which Robert Cousins had founded finally closed after the death of Bob Cousins in 1973. Among the alderman elected, Cousins received the second highest vote.

The year of 1929 marked a turbulent time for Rockhampton City Council beginning with the resignation of Rockhampton mayor Thomas Dunlop who successfully ran as an independent candidate at the 1929 Queensland state election.

A special Rockhampton City Council meeting was called for 5 August 1929 where Cousins and fellow alderman Joseph Jeffries were nominated by aldermen Falconer West Hutton and Thomas Joseph Lee respectively to be Dunlop's successor. Jeffries won the vote 5–4.

As a special council meeting on 10 August 1929 where the alderman voted for a person to fill the vacancy left by Jeffries' elevation to mayor. After James Cleland Spence had been named as the new alderman, Jeffries suddenly tendered his resignation as mayor, stating: "I declare Mr Spence elected. And here is my resignation as mayor." A local Rockhampton resident was inspired by the events to write a poem called The Mayorless City which pondered whether it was time to "have a lady mayor". It would be another 71 years before a woman would be elected as the mayor of Rockhampton City Council.

Another special meeting was scheduled to be held on 14 August 1929 but with so many aldermen absent the meeting was adjourned due to not having a quorum.

With reported hostility and frictions between the political parties, it prompted The Morning Bulletin to remark: "Rockhampton, the second city in Queensland, is still without a mayor. Is it not about time that commonsense overruled party strife and petty indifferences?" and described the time as "one of the most inglorious episodes in the annals of Rockhampton local government."

Cousins served as Rockhampton's mayor until the 1930 local government elections where after a public vote and a tightly fought contest between Cousins, Leonard Garfield Haigh and Thomas Joseph Lee, no winner was declared. The result was decided at another special council meeting on 14 August 1930 which saw Lee become Cousins' successor.

Lee's elevation to mayor finally provided some stability for Rockhampton City Council and effectively ended a turbulent time which saw the city served for four mayors in less than two years.

Between 1930 and 1933, Cousins continued to serve on the council as an alderman and was vocal on such issues as the deteriorating condition of the original Fitzroy Bridge. Cousins was also appointed as chairman of the council's water supply committee much to the chagrin of his colleague Leonard Haigh. Cousins and Lee were both selected as the two delegates who would represent the city council at the local authorities' conference in Brisbane in August 1931, after which Cousins took eight weeks leave and travelled to Thursday Island.

Cousins again contested for the mayoral position at the 1933 local government elections in what was a bitterly fought campaign between the incumbent (Lee), former mayor Dunlop and Colonel David Day Dawson. Cousins ultimately polled third thus ending his career in local government.

Although serving as mayor for only a short period, Cousins still managed to attend a number of milestone events. This included presiding over the very first meeting of the Rockhampton Tourist League in January 1930 which was arguably the first earnest attempt by the city to promote the local area to the tourist market. Cousins was appointed as the inaugural president of the league which was formed in conjunction with the Queensland Government Tourist Bureau with the aim of encouraging tourists to visit the Rockhampton region. Cousins was the first patron on the Rockhampton Aero Club.

Personal life and death Cousins married Mary Ann Steele on 25 March 1890. They had seven children between 1891 and 1905 - two sons and five daughters.

Their daughter Lillian died in 1920.

During his life, he was heavily involved in various sporting and community organisations.

Robert Cousins died at his Lennox Street home in Wandal on 18 October 1933.

Legacy A street in The Range was named Cousins Street in honour of Robert Cousins.

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