Person

Scrivener, Charles Robert (1855 - 1923)

Born
2 November 1855
Windsor, New South Wales, Australia
Died
26 September 1923
Killara, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Surveyor

Summary

Charles Scrivener was the first Director of Commonwealth Lands and Surveys 1910-1915. Earlier he had been closely involved in the selection and surveying of the site for the Federal capital. After his retirement he engaged in local shire road surveys and assisted a sawmill.

Details

Chronology

1875
Career position - Accountant in Orange, New South Wales
1876
Career position - Cadet 'geodetic computer' with the Trigonometrical branch of the New South Wales Department of Lands
1877
Career position - Passed the draughtsman's examination
1877 - 1879
Career position - Worked as a Surveyor's apprentice
1880
Career position - Became a licensed Surveyor
1888 - c. 1895
Career position - Surveyor in Maitland for the New South Wales Department of Lands
1891
Career position - Carried out the re-survey and definition of the boundaries of the Gloucester estate of the Australian Agricultural Co.
1896
Career position - Acting District Surveyor for the Wagga Wagga district
1900
Career position - Surveyed Buckley's Crossing (Dalgety) for the Federal capital site
1904
Career position - Prepared contour maps of Buckley's Crossing
1906 - 1908
Career position - District Surveyor for the Hay district
1909
Career position - Surveyed the Yass-Canberra district to determine the best city site and water-catchment territory
1910 - 1915
Career position - First Director of Commonwealth Lands and Surveys

Archival resources

Canberra and District Historical Society

  • Charles Robert Scrivener - Records, 1875 - 1923; Canberra and District Historical Society. Details

National Archives of Australia, National Office

  • Charles Robert Scrivener - Records, 1910 - 1915, M2580; National Archives of Australia, National Office. Details

Published resources

Books

  • Birtles, Terry, Charles Robert Scrivener. The Surveyor Who Sited Australia's National Capital Twice (North Melbourne: Arcadia, 2013), 248 pp. Details

Book Sections

Journal Articles

  • Wood, Greg, 'Charles Scrivenor: the Surveyor as Town Planner', National Library Magazine (2010), 12-5. Details

Resources

McCarthy, G.J.

EOAS ID: biogs/P002036b.htm

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