Bassett, Walter Eric (1892 - 1978)

Summary

Sir Walter Bassett's highly regarded consulting engineering practice W.E. Bassett and Partners, specialised in air-conditioning and hospital design, and carried out many major large-scale engineering commissions during the 20th century. The company serviced many suburban and country hospitals as well as carrying out commissions for many major state and private organisations including the Ford Motor Co., MacRobertson's Pty Ltd, Australian Paper Manufacturers Ltd and Melbourne and Williamstown town halls. When Bassett retired in 1971 W.E. Bassett and Partners employed 250 staff, having grown from a staff of just two at its founding in 1928.

Details

For several years he was senior lecturer in mechanical engineering and aerodynamics at Melbourne University.

Chronology

September 1915 - April 1917

Military service - Engineer in the 5th Field Company, Australian Imperial Force

1916

Award - Military Cross (MC) Imperial

1916

Education - Bachelor of Engineering, University of Melbourne

April 1917 - January 1918

Military service - First World War. Lieutenant in the Australian Flying Corps

1919 - 1957

Career position - Member of the University of Melbourne Engineering Faculty Staff

1927

Lecture - "Ventilation of theatres and large halls", First Commonwealth Conference on Public Health Engineering, Melbourne

1927

Education - Masters of Mechanical Engineering, University of Melbourne

1928

Career event - Established consulting engineering practice, W. E. Bassett & Partners

1942 - 1943

Career position - President, Institution of Engineers, Australia

1945 - 1946

Career position - Acting Chairman, Australian Council for Aeronautics

1948

Award - Kernot Memorial Medal, for distinguished engineering achievement in Australia. Faculty of Engineering, University of Melbourne

1958

Award - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal - Career Achievement Award in Engineering. Institution of Engineers Australia

1958 - 1968

Career position - Chairman of Renison Ltd

1959

Award - Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire - (KBE) Civil, Imperial

1963

Career position - President, Melbourne Club

1969 - 1974

Career position - President, Mount Lyell Mining & Railway Co. Ltd

1973

Award - Honorary Member (HonMAusIMM), Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy

1974

Award - Doctor of Laws (LLD), honoris causa, University of Melbourne

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Tweddell, A. E., 1928-1978 : W.E. Bassett and Partners Pty. Ltd., consulting engineers (Melbourne: 1978), 70 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Hardy, J. S., 'Bassett, Sir Walter Eric (1892-1978), engineer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 13: 1940 - 1980 A-De, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993), pp. 128-130. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bassett-sir-walter-eric-9449. Details

Conference Papers

• Bassett, W. E., 'Ventilation of theatres and large halls', in Proceedings of the First Commonwealth Conference on Public Health Engineering, Melbourne, 19th - 27th September, 1927 (1928), pp. 111-136.. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Kernot Memorial Medal - 1948 & 1949 Awards [Walter Eric Bassett, and Lewis Ronald East]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 21 (6) (1949), 107. Details
• 'Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal: 1958 Award [W. E. Bassett, MC MMechE BEE MIEAust]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 31 (1-2) (1959), N5. Details
• 'Last IEAust president from the 1940s dies [Obituary: Sir Walter Bassett]', Engineers Australia, 50 (7) (1978), 2. Details
• Bassett, W. E., 'Twenty-five years an Institution - 5. Then - and now?', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 16 (7-8) (1944), 133-134. Details
• Bassett, Walter Eric, 'Presidential address [1943] - Wartime and the engineer', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 15 (4) (1943), 77-85. Details

Reports

• Institution of Engineers Australia, Thirty-ninth Annual Report [1958] (1959), 16 pp. 'Prizes - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal (1958 Award), to Mr W E Bassett, MC MMechE BEE MIEAust', p.2. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7964263. Details
• CA 2001 Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office, 'NAA: B2455, Bassett W E', B2455 First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=3055833. Details
• 'Bassett, Walter Eric (1892-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1478979. Details
• 'Awarded honorary LLD, 1974', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details