Smith, James Alexander (1862 - 1940)

Summary

James Alexander Smith was a Melbourne consulting engineer who held many public positions including President of the Working Men's College Council.

Details

Smith appears to have been involved with the Microscopical Society of Victoria, of which he was president around 1923, the Victorian Institute of Engineers, Victorian Railways, the Royal Society of Victoria, and the Victorian Institute of Surveyors.

He was the engineer member of the committee of three, that selected the winning design for the layout of Canberra. He also played a major part in the consolidation of the Melbourne City Council Building Regulations, and he was a leading advocate for roofing over the Jolimont railway yards for civic purposes.

Chronology

1888 - 1923

Career event - Member (MVIE), Victorian Institute of Engineers

1908 - 1911

Career position - President, Victorian Institute of Engineers

1919

Career event - Foundation Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

Related entries

Archival resources

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

• James Alexander Smith - Papers, 1878 - 1933, MS 11370; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Published resources

Journal Articles

• Anon, 'Obituary - James Alexander Smith', The Australian Surveyor, 8 (4) (1940), 230. https://doi.org/10.1080/00050326.1940.10437461. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'Notes on some experimental illustrations of streamline flow and apparatus (Paper & Discussion)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. IV (1905), 60-66. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24294. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'Notes on internal flow in centrifugal pumps (Part II): a study of the theory of the runner (Paper & Discussion)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. IV (1905), 147-162. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24300. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'Air in relation to boiler-feeds (Paper & Discussion)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. V (1905), 57-65, 89-89, 139-146. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24320. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'Notes on some experimental researches on internal flow in centrifugal pumps and allied machines (Paper & Discussion)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. IV (1905), 5-18. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24291. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'Air in relation to the surface-condensation of low-pressure steam: an experimental study of condenser problems (Paper & Discussion)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. VI (1906), 176-201. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24355. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'Surface condensation (Discussion)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. VII (1907), 11-18, 29-40. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24364. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'The engineer in Australia: the pioneer of a continent (Presidential Address)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. X (1910), 10-23. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24436. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'The relation of the calorific and commercial values of fuel (Lecture)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. X (1910), 90-95. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24449. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'A simple, sensitive, two-liquid differential gauge for measuring small pressures (Paper & Discussion)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. X (1910), 155-161. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24456. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'The differential pressure gauge in engineering thermometry', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. X (1910), 196-201. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24459. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'The freight collecting area of Port Philip (Paper & Discussion)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. XI (1911), 142-146, 150-152. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24495. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'National issues in Australian railway engineering (Presidential address)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. XI (1911), 10-30. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24485. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'Engineering in relation to astronomy', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. XI (1911), 182-184, http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24503. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'Building Regulations. Precis of some of the simpler matters considered by the Victorian Institute of Engineers, in reviewing the proposed factor of safety for timber', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. XI (1911), 95-96, http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24491. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'The problem of the Gauge of Australian railways (Paper & Discussion)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. XII (1912), 123-139, 144-152, 175-192, 225-232. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24522. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'A plea for breadth in Australian engineering thought and plan (Presidential address)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. XII (1912), 14-25. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24511. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'The European-American frontier in the Pacific in relation to Panama and Australian transport problems (Paper & Discussion)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. XIV (1914), 167-175, 185-190. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24575. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'A method of determining the density of flue gases (Paper & Discussion)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. XVI (1917), 91-98, 137-143. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24592. Details
• Smith, James Alexander, 'Letter to the Editor', Commonwealth Engineer, 6 (5) (1918), 159. Details

Resources

• 'Smith, James Alexander (1862-19401231)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1476945. Details