Person

Wilson, Charles Anthony Corbett (1827 - 1923)

Born
13 February 1827
Brompton Square, London, England
Died
7 October 1923
Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Civil engineer

Summary

Charles Wilson was a notable civil engineer and surveyor in the Western district of Victoria. From 1863 until his retirement in 1917, he was the secretary, treasurer, and engineer to the Shelford District Road Board, that later became the Shire of Leigh, holding those offices for a period of 54 years.

He arrived in the colony of Victoria on 10 August 1851, and headed to the first discoveries of gold at Clunes and Ballarat. But soon after practised as a surveyor in Geelong. Among other works, he surveyed the Geelong-Melbourne railway; was an engineer for the Central Roads Board in the Western district - including responsibility for the Geelong to Ballarat main road, the masonry foundations of the Barwon Iron Bridge, and the first bridge at Cressy. From 1860 until 1863, he undertook large Government land survey contracts in the Western District. He had a large family, and four of his sons became engineers - Charles Corbett Powell Wilson, Frederick Anthony Wilson, William Spencer Wilson, Percy Benn Wilson.

Details

Chronology

1846 - 1850
Career position - Articled to Griffin and Downing, engineers, of Westminster, London
1851
Life event - Migrated to Melbourne, Victoria
c. 1852 - c. 1854
Career position - Surveyor, Geelong [Geelong-Melbourne railway]
1854 - 1860
Career position - Assistant engineer, Central Roads Board [Main road Geelong to Ballararat]
1860 - 1863
Career position - Land Surveyor, Government contracts in the Western District
1863 - 1917
Career position - Secretary, Treasurer and Engineer to the Shelford District Road Board, later the Shire of Leigh
1867
Career position - Engineer, Mining District of Ballarat, within Leigh Shire
1872
Career event - Granted Certificate of Competency as Engineer and Surveyor (CE), (2nd Class Cert B23), Shires Statute and Boroughs Statute 1869 VIC
1887
Career event - Member (MVIE), Victorian Institute of Engineers
1888
Career position - Engineer, Winchelsea Waterworks Trust
1917
Life event - Retired

Published resources

Journal Articles

  • Alsop, Peter F. B., 'The Shelford Iron Bridge', Roadlines : the staff magazine of the Country Roads Board (1971), 5-8. Details
  • Alsop, Peter F. B., 'The Shelford Bridge', Investigator : magazine of the Geelong Historical Society, 9 (4) (1974), 117-134. Details

Newspaper Articles

See also

  • Directory for cities, towns, boroughs, shires and districts in the colony of Victoria for 1875 (Melbourne: Evans Brothers, 1875), 184 pp, http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-393176554. Granted Certicate of Competency as Engineer and Surveyor under the Shires and Boroughs Statutes: p.v. Details

Ken McInnes

EOAS ID: biogs/P007186b.htm

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