Davis, Joseph (1854 - 1932)

Summary

Joseph Davis was Director-general of the Department of Public Works, New South Wales 1912 until 1917. From 1883 when he arrived in Australia, he was a leading engineer in the design and construction of the sewerage systems for Sydney.

Davis served on many key State and Commonwealth enquiries and boards, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge Advisory Board; the royal commission on Sydney water-supply; the interstate royal commission on the River Murray, the royal commissions on the Working of the Government Dockyard and Workshops; and the royal commission on the Boundaries of Local Government Areas.

He also served on the River Murray commission 1916 to 1917; reported to the Commonwealth government on a sewerage system for Canberra, and on the small arms factory at Lithgow, and to the Western Australian government on a sewerage system for Perth.

After he retired to London in 1917, as a consulting engineer for New South Wales, he was responsible for approving all the steel manufactured in Great Britain for the Sydney Harbour Bridge, as well as electrical equipment and rolling stock for Sydney's suburban railways.

Details

Chronology

1872 - 1873

Career position - Engineering pupillage [Under Colliery owner Elijah Davis - his father]

1874 - 1875

Career position - Engineering pupillage, Dudley [Under William North and Sons, consulting engineers]

1876 - 1879

Career position - Resident engineer, Park Lane Ironworks, Oldbury [mining works including railways, bridges, buildings, mining machinery, hydraulic works. Under Jacob Forrest MInstCE]

1880 - 1883

Career position - Resident engineer, Dudley sewerage works, Worcestershire [Under H. J. Marten, MInstCE, and G. J. C. Broom, MInstCE, FRS]

1883

Life event - Migrated to Australia

1885 - 1888

Career position - Resident engineer, Bondi main sewer, Department of Public Works, New South Wales [Under D. C. McMordie, MInstCE, Divisional Engineer]

1889

Career event - Associate Member (AssocMInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London

1889 - 1895

Career position - Supervising engineer, Sewerage Construction, Department of Public Works, New South Wales [Under

1891

Career event - Member (MInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London

1895 - 1896

Career position - Principal Assistant Engineer, Water Supply and Sewerage, Department of Public Works, New South Wales

1896 - 1901

Career position - Principal Assistant Engineer, Metropolitan Sewerage Construction, Department of Public Works, New South Wales

1897 - 1899

Career position - Acting Government Architect, Department of Public Works, New South Wales

1900

Career event - Member (MIMechE), Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London

1901

Career position - Chairman, Sydney Harbour Bridge Advisory Board

1901 - 1907

Career position - Under-secretary, Department of Public Works, New South Wales

1902

Career position - President of the "Interstate Royal Commission on the River Murray"

1902

Award - Telford Premium, Institution of Civil Engineers, London - for 'The Sewerage Systems of Sydney, N.S.W., and its Suburbs'

1902 - 1903

Career position - President, Inter-State Royal Commission on the River Murray

1902 - 1904

Career position - Chairman, Royal Commission on Sydney Water Supply

1905

Career position - Prepared a report on the sewerage system for Perth

1906 - 1908

Career position - Member of Council in Australia, Institution of Civil Engineers, London

1907 - 1912

Career position - Consulting and inspecting engineer, Agent-General's Office, London

1908

Career position - Arranged the New South Wales court, Franco-British Exhibition, London

1912 - 1917

Career position - Director-general, Department of Public Works Department, New South Wales

1914 - 1916

Career position - Member of Council in Australia, Institution of Civil Engineers, London

1916

Career position - Prepared a report on the sewerage system for Canberra

1916 - 1917

Career position - Representative of New South Wales, Murray River Commission

1917

Life event - Retired

1917

Career position - Consulting engineer to the New South Wales government, in London.

Related entries

Published resources

Book Sections

• Corbett, Arthur, 'Davis, Joseph (1854-1932)' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds, vol. 8 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1981), https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/davis-joseph-5915/. Details

Parliamentary papers

• Interstate Royal Commission on the River Murray, Interstate Royal Commission on the River Murray, representing the states of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia : Report of the Commissioners, with minutes of evidence, appendices and plans (Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide: 1902), 60, 359 pp. https://pov.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_GB/parl_paper/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:34095/one. President of the Commission, State of New South Wales. Details

Resources

• 'Obituary. Joseph Davis, 1854-1932.', Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Civil Engineers, https://doi.org/10.1680/imotp.1932.13323. Details
• 'The Sewerage Systems of Sydney, N.S.W., and its Suburbs', Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Civil Engineers, https://doi.org/10.1680/imotp.1902.18345. Details