Joshua Jeays married Sarah Edwyn in 1838 in Marylebone, Middlesex, England with whom he had a number of children including:.
11 Facts About Joshua Jeays
Joshua Jeays purchased land and built 'Roma Villa' on the corner of Upper Roma and Skew Streets, Petrie Terrace, where he lived with his wife and family.
Joshua Jeays's wife believed that living on this land would be healthier for her than their home on the 'Green Hills'.
Accordingly, Joshua Jeays built a grand English-style home, using rough stone and decorated with gables and casement windows, naming it 'Bardon' after Bardon Hill in his native Leicestershire.
However, by the time the house was completed his wife had died and Joshua Jeays was too broken-hearted to live in the house that he had built for his wife, and it was then occupied by his son Charles and later by Edwyn Lilley.
Joshua Jeays died on 11 March 1881 in Brisbane and is buried in Toowong Cemetery.
Joshua Jeays was involved in the development of Brisbane's water supply and drainage system.
Joshua Jeays built and provided the stone from his quarry at Woogaroo for Brisbane's first Government House, now part of the Queensland University of Technology's Gardens Point campus.
Joshua Jeays partially built the George Street side of Parliament House, Brisbane, which John Petrie completed in 1868.
Joshua Jeays was an alderman of the Brisbane Municipal Council, from 1859 to 1867, including serving as mayor in 1864.
Joshua Jeays has been described as having "radical political views" and as an Orangeman and Evangelical.