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.
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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
- 'Veteran Engineer's Death', The Argus (1923), 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1998119. Details
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
Created: 5 April 2023