William Aplin

Who was William Aplin?

William Aplin was a pastoralist, businessman and parliamentarian, Aplin was the founding member of the Townsville Municipal Council and also the Mayor twice, he was also a member of the Thuringowa Divisional Board in 1879, 1886, 1889 and from 1894 to 1896, he was Thuringowa's first chairman when elected in 1880 and then reelected in 1882, until he was elected on to the Dalrymple Divisional Board in April 1883 where he remained a member until 1901.

Aplin was born in Combe St Nicholas, Somerset, England. In 1862, Aplin migrated to Brisbane and in 1863 he moved up to Bowen, where he became a representative of Seaward, Marsh & Co.

When Townsville was founded, He moved to Cleveland Bay and formed Clifton & Aplin. He was also a member of the board of trustees for the Townsville Grammar School in 1888, the vice president of the North Queensland Pastoral and Agricultural Association, the Flinders District Hospital Committee and the trustee of the Townsville cemetery, and also a member of the Legislative Council.

Aplin died on 18 February 1901 in Warwick, Queensland. Aplin's Weir on the Ross River is also named after him.