Swinburne, George (1861 - 1928)

Summary

George Swinburne MInstCE was manager of the Melbourne Hydraulic Power Co. 1887-1897 and managing director 1898-1911. He was Minister of Water Supply for Victoria 1904-1908 and Agriculture 1905-1908. In 1919-1925 he was a foundation member of the State Electricity Commission. He founded the Swinburne Technical College in 1908.

Details

Educated at Royal Grammar School, Newcastle and night school, engineering; apprenticed to J. Williamson and Co., chemical merchants 1874, clerk 1880-82; joined gas and mechanical engineering firm of uncle John Coates at London, partner from 1885; followed uncle to Melbourne 1886; manager Melbourne Hydraulic Power Co. 1887-97, managing director 1898-1911, chairman Australasian board 1911-13; director of a number of companies. Member Inter-State Commission 1913-17, CSIR 1916-20; chairman of committee controlling capital issue 1915-17, Board of Business Administration, Defence Department 1917-19; member Military Board 1919-20, Note Issue Board 1920-22; Victorian SEC commissioner 1919-25. Founder of Eastern Suburbs (later Swinburne) Technical College, president 1908-28. MLA for Hawthorn October 1902-July 1913 (resigned), Minister of Water Supply April 1904-October 1908 (resigned over land tax bill), Minister of Agriculture November 1904-October 1908. ); MLC for East Yarra Province June-September 1928 (deceased).

Chronology

1871 - 1875

Education - Royal Grammar School, Newcastle-on-Tyne

1875 - 1881

Career position - Engineer-in-training, J. C. Williamson & Co.

1881 - 1886

Career position - Engineer-in-training, John Abbot & Co, John Coates, R. Dempster & Co.

1884 -

Career position - Partnership, John Coates & Co.

1886

Life event - Emigrated to Australia

1886 - 1896

Career position - Engineer, in partnership with John Coates, Australia

1887

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

1896 - 1913

Career position - Engineer, Colonial Gas Association

1896 - 1913

Career position - Engineer, Sydney Hydraulic Company

1896 - 1913

Career position - Chairman / Adviser, Broken Hill Water Supply

1896 - 1913

Career position - Director, Metropolitan Gas Company

1896 - 1913

Career position - Chairman, Johns & Waygood Ltd

1896 - 1913

Career position - Engineer, Melbourne Hydraulic Company

1 Dec 1896

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

1897

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

1902 - 1913

Career position - Politician, Member for Hawthorn, Victorian State Parliament

1904 - 1908

Career position - Minister of Water Supply & Agriculture, Victorian State Parliament

1908

Life event - Resigned from Cabinet, due to ill-health

1913 -

Career position - Inter-State Commissioner of Australia

10 Mar 1914

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

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Currie, George; Graham, John, The Origins of CSIRO: Science and the Commonwealth Government, 1901-1926 (Melbourne: CSIRO, 1966), 203 pp, https://ebooks.publish.csiro.au/content/origins-csiro. pages 5, 7, 38, 46, 50, 52, 62-64. Details
• Sugden, E.H.; and Eggleston, P.W., George Swinburne: a biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1931), 598 pp, https://viewer.slv.vic.gov.au/?entity=IE20494768&mode=browse. Details

Book Sections

• Patrick, Alison, 'Swinburne, George (1861-1928), businessman, politician and philanthropist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 12: 1891 - 1939 Smy-Z, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1990), pp. 150-152. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120169b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Churchyard, J. N., 'Pioneers of Irrigation in Victoria, Number 6. George Swinburne. Engineer and Legislator', Aqua: Official Journal of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria, 8 (6) (1957), 123-126. Details
• Swinburne, George; Whitehead, C. A.; and Anderson, Joshua Thomas Noble, 'Note on mechanical filtration and gravitation filtration (Paper & Discussion)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers, 3 (1903), 69-103. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24285. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5544995. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/94599483. Details
• Institution of Civil Engineers, London, 'Application: 9599, 1896', Civil Engineer Membership Forms, 1818-1930, ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com.au/search/collections/3585/. Details
• 'Swinburne, George (1861-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-624591. Details

See also

• 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_s.html. Details
• Engineers Australia ed., Wonders never cease: 100 Australian engineering achievements (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 236 pp. p.26. Details
• Engineers Australia ed., Anything is possible: 100 Australian engineering leaders (Barton, A.C.T.: Institution of Engineers Australia, 2019), 136 pp. 'An Education Benefactor - George Swinburne' p.100. Details
• Roe, Michael, 'Piddington, Albert Bathurst (1862 - 1945), judge and reformer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 11: 1891 - 1939 Nes-Smi, Geoffrey Serle, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1988), pp. 224-226, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/piddington-albert-bathurst-8043. Details
• Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details