Burnell, John Gurner (1885 - 1967)

Summary

John Burnell, MC MIEAust, was a mechanical engineer recognised for his leading role in the design, manufacture, and improvement of heavy pumping machinery for irrigation and other industries. He joined Thompson and Company, Castlemaine, Victoria, one of the largest manufacturers in Australia, as an assistant manager in 1922. From 1925 to 1957 he was the technical director when it became Thompson Engineering & Pipe Company Limited. Burnell firmly believed in the importance of basic research to engineering design and manufacturing, and solved many problems, developed standards, and registered patents, as well as negotiated the transfer of innovative manufacturing licenses from Europe and America. In his early career, he established standard tests for pumps, that were later adopted internationally.

His expertise was acknowledged by being awarded the Kernot Memorial Medal in 1946; the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Meda in 1951; and an Honorary Doctor of Engineering (DEng) from the University of Melbourne in 1956.

Details

Chronology

1907 - 1908

Career position - Engineering Assistant, Engineering shops, Colonial Sugar Refining Company, Pyrmont, NSW

1908

Career event - Student Member (StudInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London [under W H Warren]

1908

Education - Bachelor of Engineering, Mechanical and Electrical (BE), University of Sydney

1908 - 1911

Career position - Engineer, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria [under Elwood Mead]

1911 - 1922

Career position - Chief Mechanical engineer, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria [supervising the installation and testing of steam driven irrigation pumping plants]

1913

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

1915 - 1919

Military service - Lieutenant / Captain 5th Field Company, Engineers, AIF

1916

Award - Military Cross (MC) - Engineers

1919

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

1922 - 1925

Career position - Assistant Manager, Thompson and Company, Castlemaine, Victoria

1923

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

1925 - 1957

Career position - Technical director, Thompson Engineering & Pipe Company Limited, Castlemaine, Victoria

1934

Patent - Improvements in and connected with feed water heaters and de-aerators [16151/1934]

1940 - 1945

Military service - Captain/Temporary Major, Mechanical engineering manufacture, DADOS "Q" Mech Australian Headquarters

1944

Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1944 - 1945

Career event - Member of Council, University of Melbourne

1946

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

1951

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

1956

Award - Doctor of Engineering (DEng), honoris causa, University of Melbourne

Related entries

Published resources

Book Sections

• Churchward, M. S., 'Burnell, John Gurner (1885-1967), engineer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 13: 1940 - 1980 A-De, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993), pp. 310-311. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130349b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal: 1951 Award [J. G. Burnell, MC BE MIEAust]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 24 (1952), 32. Details
• Burnell, John Gurner, 'The Flow of Boiling Water through Nozzles, Orifices and Pipes', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 18 (1946), p.41-. Discussion p.172.. Details
• Burnell, John Gurner, 'The Discharge of Boiling Water through a Venturi Tube', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 27 (1955), 213-. Details
• East, L. R. (editor), 'One hundred years of engineering in Victoria.', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 6 (10) (1934), 353-420. 'Industrial Development' pp.407-412. Details

Reports

• Institution of Engineers Australia, Thirty-second Annual Report [1951] (1952), 14 pp. 'Prizes - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal (1951 Award), to Mr John Gurner Burnell, MC BE MIEAust, Melboune Division', p.2. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q21535450. Details
• CA 2001 Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office, 'NAA: B2455, Burnell, John Gurner', 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=3171401. Details
• CA 555 Australian Patent Office, 1904-1992, 'NAA: A627, 16151/1934 : Application for Letters Patent for an invention by John Gurner Burnell titled - Improvements in and connected with feed water heaters and de-aerators', A627 Applications for patents, single number series with year suffix, 1904-1992, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=5168598. Details
• CA 6, Department of Defence [I]; CA 2001 Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office, 'NAA: B4717, Burnell/John Gurner', B4717 PMF (Permanent Military Forces) and Army Militia Personnel dossiers, 1901-1973, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=30111306. Details
• Institution of Civil Engineers, London, 'Application: 13947, 1913', Civil Engineer Membership Forms, 1818-1930, ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com.au/search/collections/3585/. Details
• 'Burnell, John Gurner (1885-19671231)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1467952. Details
• 'Awarded honorary DEng, 1956', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details