Person

Coates, John (1844 - 1914)

Born
7 July 1844
Newcastle-on-Tyne, Durham, England
Died
10 February 1914
St George Hanover Square, Middlesex, England
Occupation
Civil engineer, Gas engineer and Hydraulic engineer

Summary

John Coates was a prominent gas and hydraulic engineer, founder of the Melbourne and Sydney Hydraulic Power Companies, and of many gasworks and other businesses in Australia. As head of the firm John Coates and Company Ltd., he was in partnership with his nephews George Swinburne, William Swinburne and Matthew Clavering Coates. John was also responsible for gasworks and hydraulic power installations at many towns in Europe, South America and Canada, and was a consulting and inspecting engineer to the Victorian State Railways, the Commonwealth Government and to other public authorities and private corporations.

Details

Works by John Coates between 1885 and 1891 include: Gasworks for the towns of Benalla, Ararat, Lilydale, Central Brighton, Box Hill and Surrey Hills, in Victoria; lighting of Charlers Towers (Queensland), North Suburban Melbourne, Wangaratta, Shepparton, Warraga, Maldon (Victoria), Latrobe (Tasmania) and Palmerston North (New Zealand); consulting engineer to the Parliament of Victoria Bill for high pressure power to Melbourne and its wharves, and was engineer-in-chief for the scheme; New Australasian Gas Association; Sydney and Suburban Hydraulic Power Company Limited;

Chronology

Education - Newcastle-on-Tyne, Durham England
1858 - 1863
Career position - Pupilage, W B Lead mines, Northumberland
1863 - 1865
Career position - Assistant engineer, W B Lead mines, Northumberland [under T Sopwith MInstCE, T J Bewick MInstCE]
1865 - 1868
Career position - Lord Armstrong's Elswick Works, Newcastle [under Sir W G Armstrong]
1868 - 1878
Career position - Assistant engineer, Thomas and Charles Hawksley, Westminster [under T & C Hawksley MInstCE]
7 Dec 1875
Career event - Associate Member (AssocMInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London
1878 - 1885
Career position - Engineer, Messrs J Abbott and Company, Hydraulic Engineers, Gateshead.
1885
Life event - Migrated to Australia
1885 - c. 1890
Career position - Consulting engineer, John Coates and Company, Melbourne
1886 - 1900
Career position - Director, Melbourne Hydraulic Power Company
1887 - 1888
Career position - Consulting engineer, report on goods handling of railways of Great Britain, for the Victorian Railways Commission
1888 - 1890?
Career position - Director, Johns' Hydraulic and General Engineering Company Ltd, Melbourne
13 Mar 1888
Career event - Member (MInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London
1893 - 1902
Career position - Secured contract for lighting of Montreal, Canada.
1902 - 1904
Career position - President, Chamber of Commerce, Ottawa, Canada.
1904 - ?
Career position - Chairman, Associated Boards of the Dominion, Canada.
1904
Life event - Return to Australia from Canada..

Related People

Published resources

Edited Books

  • Chrimes, M. M.; Cox, R. C.; Cross-Rudkin, P. S. M.; Elton, J. M. H.; Hurst, B. L.; McWilliam, R. C.; Rennison, R. W.; Sutherland, R. J. M.; Thomas, R. E. ed., Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 3: 1890-1920 (London, United Kingdom: Thomas Telford Publishing, 2014), 775 pp. 'Coates, John', pp.131-2. Details

Resources

Ken McInnes

EOAS ID: biogs/P006417b.htm

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