Person

Hudson, William (1896 - 1978)

KBE FRS FTS HonFIEAust

Born
27 April 1896
East Nelson, New Zealand
Died
12 September 1978
Red Hill, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Occupation
Civil engineer

Summary

Sir William Hudson was Commissioner of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority 1949-1967 and previously was responsible for the construction of many other dams. Hudson's other roles included Chairman of the Road Safety Council of New South Wales and President of the National Safety Council of Australia. He is commemorated by the Sir William Hudson Memorial Home for aged persons in Cooma.

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Details

Chronology

1920
Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of London
1920 - 1922
Career position - Assistant Engineer, Hydro-Electric Section, Armstrong Whitworth & Co. London
1922 - 1924
Career position - Assistant Engineer, railway construction, New Zealand Public Works Department and on the Mangahao hydro-electric scheme
1924 - 1927
Career position - Engineer in charge of construction, Arapuni Dam, New Zealand
1927
Career position - Engineer, Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board of Sydney
1928 - 1931
Career position - Assistant Research Engineer, Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board, working on the construction of Nepean Dam, New South Wales
1931 - 1937
Career position - Engineer in charge of construction, Gallaway Hydro-Electrical Scheme in Scotland [working for Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners (London)]
1937 - 1943
Career position - Research Engineer, Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board, working on the construction of the Woronora Dam in Sydney
1943 - 1948
Career position - Chief Construction Engineer, Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board
1948 - 1949
Career position - Engineer-in-Chief, Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board
1949 - 1967
Career position - Commissioner, Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority
1955
Award - Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) - In recognition of service as Chairman of the Snowy Mountains Authority
1957
Award - Australian Engineering Award
1958
Award - Kernot Memorial Medal, for distinguished engineering achievement in Australia. Faculty of Engineering, University of Melbourne
1962
Award - Honorary Member (HonMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
1964
Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)
1966
Award - James Cook Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales
1968
Award - Honorary Fellow (HonFIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia [Former Honorary Members were designated Honorary Fellows on this date.]
1975
Award - W D Chapman Medal, for outstanding contribution to the field of welding in Australia. Australian Welding Institute
1975
Award - Order of the White Cross, Annual Award for services to Australia
1975 - 1978
Award - Foundation Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences (FTS)

Related Corporate Bodies

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

  • William Hudson - Records, 1896 - 1970, TRC 121/5; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

  • Wickham, Alan; Fitzpatrick, Mike, The ANCOLD story : 1937-1995 (Australian National Committee on Large Dams, 1998), 55 pp. Details

Book Sections

Journal Articles

  • Hudson, W., 'Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric project', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 34 (6) (1962), 107-113. Details
  • Paton, Thomas Angus Lyall, 'William Hudson, 27 April 1896 - 12 September 1978', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 25 (1979), 319-35. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1979.0011. Details

Resources

Resource Sections

See also

  • 'Dr Keith Thomas Henry Farrer OBE MA DSc FTSE - Biographical Note', Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, http://www.atse.org.au/index.php?sectionid=648. Details
  • Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_h.html. Details
  • Engineers Australia ed., Wonders never cease: 100 Australian engineering achievements (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 236 pp. pp.36-37. Details
  • Engineers Australia ed., Anything is possible: 100 Australian engineering leaders (Barton, A.C.T.: Institution of Engineers Australia, 2019), 136 pp. 'The Father of the Snowy - Sir William Hudson' p.76. Details
  • Institution of Engineers Australia. Sydney Division. Engineering Heritage Committee, The Historic Engineering Plaques of Australia (Milsons Point, New South Wales: The Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1994), 38 pp. p.27. Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme, Tumut 3 Power Station, N.S.W. Details
  • Lister, Ken, 'The Snowy Mountains Scheme - More than Engineering Heritage', in Eleventh National Conference on Engineering Heritage: Federation Engineering a Nation; Proceedings (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2001), pp. 245-252., https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.521126347362503. Details
  • Thorpe, Noel, 'Chapter 2: Water supply and sewerage' in Sydney: from settlement to city: an engineering history of Sydney, Don Fraser, ed. (Crows Nest, New South Wales: Engineers Australia, 1989), pp. 17-40. Details

Gavan McCarthy [P004098]; Ken McInnes

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 6 October 2023

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