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Mr R.E (Tom) Farrell was born in Brisbane in 1904 and attended Cook's Hill Junior High School. In 1921 Farrell accepted an appointment at the Newcastle Abattoirs where he worked as an accountant and a meat inspector and in 1966 was appointed General Manager. Farrell retired in 1968 after 47 years at the abattoir. Tom Farrell is also considered to be one of the fathers of Newcastle University. Farrell used his considereble local influence to petition the NSW government to establish a University college in Newcastle. He was also influential in the relocation of the University campus from the overcrowded Tinges Hill site to the present campus at Shortland. In 1988, Newcastle University granted him an Honorary Master of Arts. Farrell was also a noted environmentalist, serving as an active member of several groups such as the National Parks Movement, the Northern Parks and Playgrounds movement and the Hunter Valley National Parks Association. During the 1930s, Farrell among others, were able to sucsessfully lobby for the Blackbutt Reserve to be preserved as a public recreation space. Farrell was also involved in the preservation of Mt Sugarloaf, Barrington Tops and Myall Lakes as public recreation space and parkland. Tom Farrell died in July, 1996.
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