Thomas BanksPrint Page

The monument over the grave, erected by friends, commemorates Thomas Banks, musician and former organist at St. Mary's Cathedral who died in 1888. 

A capable and conscientious musician and a genial, good-hearted gentleman has passed away in the death of Mr. Thomas Philip Banks. The deceased gentleman, whose position as organist of St. Mary's Cathedral kept his name prominently before the public for the last ten or eleven years, died on Sunday evening in St. Vincent's Hospital. The cause of death was acute pneumonia, brought on by a cold contracted a little over a fortnight ago. His first appointment as organist was to the city church of the Sacred Heart, Darlinghurst. Making rapid progress as a player, he secured the organ in succession to Mr. Roper at St. Patrick's, which has always been noted for good music, and in 1877, after some five years' successful service in that church, he won by honest merit, and has ever since held, the coveted prize of all Roman' Catholic organists, the premier position at the Cathedral.

The deceased gentleman was recognized and appreciated as a sound musician and a particularly able interpreter of sacred music, notably the masses of Mozart, Haydn, Weber, and Gounod ; but apart from his work in the Catholic churches  which was characterised by an average excellence rather than by occasional flashes of brilliancy; he more than once took a prominent part as organist and pianist in the public performances of two old city musical societies — the Civil Service Musical Society and the Sydney Musical Union. For twenty years Mr. Banks occupied a responsible position in the Crown Lands Department, but about 18 months before his death he left the Civil Service and devoted himself exclusively to the musical profession. 
Freeman's Journal (Sydney), 19 May 1888.

On Sunday afternoon a large crowd of persons assembled in the Waverley Cemetery to witness the unveiling of a chaste marble monument, erected to his memory by the friends of the late Mr. Thos. Banks, the well known musician. The monument was designed and executed by the firm of Flanagan and Anderson, the prominent feature of the design being an organ cut in relief, with a music book underneath showing: the first bar of the Kyrie of Mozart's "Twelfth Mass," the favourite work of the dead musician. The statue was unveiled by Mr. T. M. Slattery, M.L.A., who said a few appropriate words on the subject bf the deceased's kindly disposition and his high reputation, as a sound musician.  A number of well known ladies and gentlemen were present, and the members of the St Mary's Cathedral choir arranged a musical Service for the occasion, which was much appreciated. 
Evening News (Sydney), 27 November 1888.

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