Wine and Spirit merchant, first mayor of Waverley, NSW, Australia
John Birrell was born 17 July 1821 in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom to Robert Birrell (1783) and Mary or Ann Dunbar (1787) and died 21 February 1874 'Avoca Villa', Waverley, New South Wales, Australia of unspecified causes. He married Catherine Cummins (1832-1882) 23 May 1850 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
John Birrell J.P. Obituary (Sydney Morning Herald 23 Feb 1874 p5):
This gentlemen died at his residence, Avoca Villa on Saturday morning. Mr Birrell has been actively engaged in business in Sydney for over a quarter of a century, and during nearly the whole of that time he was a liberal contributor to the public charities of the city.
He was elected first Mayor of Waverley on the extension of the Municipalities Act to the suburbs and was made a magistrate of the territory on the expiry of his office.. Up to within the last twelve months, Mr Birrell was among the most regular attendants to his Magisterial duties and took an active part on the Committee of the Randwick Destitute Children's Asylum.
His strict commercial integrity was known and acknowledged by a large section of the community with whom he was brought into contact, and his generous and benevolent disposition will cause him to be missed by numbers of persons whose needy state he often alleviated, and others whom he assisted in their start in life.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Alexander Birrell (1852-1925) | 28 April 1852 Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia | 7 March 1925 Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia | Sarah Baily (c1852-c1935) |
| John Fulton Birrell (1857-1879) | |||
| Mary Anne Birrell (1858-1863) | |||
| Frances Mary Birrell (1859-1863) | |||
| Theresa Mary Gertrude Birrell (1862-1863) | |||
| Francis J S Birrell (1863-1905) | |||
| Kathleen May Birrell (1865-1913) | |||
| Charles George Birrell (1867-1923) | 18 February 1867 Waverley, New South Wales, Australia | 24 October 1923 143 Stanmore-road, Stanmore, New South Wales, Australia | Mary Esther Seline Mylecharane (1871-1916) Lillian Parker (bef1918) |
| William Dunbar Birrell (1868-1944) | |||
| Mary Florence Birrell (1872-?) | |||
Footnotes (including sources)
| ‡ General |
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