Thomas Icely

{{Short description|Australian politician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}

{{Infobox person

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| name = Thomas Icely

| honorific_suffix = MLC

| image = Thomas Icely 1874.jpg

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| caption = Portrait of Thomas Icely published with his obituary in Australian Town and Country Journal (New South Wales), 28 February 1874

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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1797|11|03|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Plympton, Devonshire, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1874|02|13|1797|11|03|df=yes}}

| death_place = Parramatta, New South Wales

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Thomas Icely (3 November 1797{{spaced ndash}}13 February 1874) was an early colonial New South Wales landholder and stockbreeder.{{Cite NSW Parliament |id=266 |name=Mr Thomas Icely |former=Yes |access-date=5 May 2019}} As a nominee Legislative Councillor from 1843,{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230125936 |title=Proclamation: appointed members of the Legislative Council |newspaper=New South Wales Government Gazette |issue=62 |date=25 July 1843 |accessdate=23 April 2019 |page=952 |via=Trove}} to 1853,{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229116230 |title=Proclamation: appointment of Thomas Barker |newspaper=New South Wales Government Gazette |issue=38 |date=8 April 1853 |accessdate=5 May 2019 |page=655 |via=Trove}} and from 1855,{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229755492 |title=Proclamation: appointment Thomas Icely |newspaper=New South Wales Government Gazette |issue=63 |date=27 April 1855 |accessdate=5 May 2019 |page=1207 |via=Trove}} until the establishment of responsible government in 1856,{{NSW Parliamentary Record |part=3 |accessdate=2020-10-22}} he was a consistent supporter of the Governor.{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60147132 |title=Who represents the colony? |newspaper=The Empire |date=10 December 1853 |accessdate=5 May 2019 |page=4 |via=Trove}} He served a second term as a life appointee to the Legislative Council from 1864.{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225355989 |title=Legislative council appointments |newspaper=New South Wales Government Gazette |issue=115 |date=3 June 1864 |accessdate=5 May 2019 |page=1315 |via=Trove}}

Icely was the beneficiary of large land grants to which he added purchased land holdings, his main holding from 1831 was Coombing Park.{{cite AuDB |first=K J |last=Cable |id2=icely-thomas-2258 |title=Icely, Thomas (1797–1874) |access-date=22 September 2011}} To support this holding, the village of Mandurama was established in 1876.{{cite web |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/New-South-Wales/Carcoar/2005/02/17/1108500193253.html |title=Carcoar |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=8 February 2004 |accessdate=5 May 2019}}

Thomas Icely was a benefactor of the Anglican Church in Carcoar where he funded the building of St Paul's church in Belubula St. Designed by Edmund Blacket, a small gothic revival structure and build of brick and sandstone with a slate roof between 1845 and 1848 making it the second oldest church west of the Blue Mountains.

His name is associated with the introduction of Shorthorn stock into Australia.{{cite web |url=http://www.beefshorthorn.org.au/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=28 |title=Tracing the Breed's History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220181736/http://www.beefshorthorn.org.au/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=28 |archive-date=20 February 2011 |publisher=Beef Shorthorn Society of Australia}}

The year 1831 was a milestone in that it saw the first Beef Shorthorn bull registered in Coates’ Herd Book brought to Australia. The importer was the Van Diemen's Land Company, Tasmania. There is some confusion as to which breeder imported the first Coates’ Herd Book bull to the mainland. Expert opinion leans towards Mr Thomas Icely of Coombing Park, Carcour, New South Wales who imported a red bull in the mid-1830s.

He was the first lessee of Elizabeth Farm to which he retired with his family in 1869 and where he died on 13 February 1874.[http://www.hht.net.au/discover/highlights/guidebooks/elizabeth_farm "Guidebook], Elizabeth Farm", Historic Houses Trust (New South Wales) accessed 22 September 2011.