Person
Swinburne, George (1861 - 1928)
- Born
- 3 February 1861
Paradise, England - Died
- 4 September 1928
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Business executive, Engineer, Politician and Philanthropist
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
Colleague
Subordinate
Published resources
Books
- 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
Rosanne Walker
Created: 25 May 2001, Last modified: 23 March 2022
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