Hodgson, Henry Joseph Nichol (1901 - 1992)

Summary

Henry Hodgson, MCE FInstCE FIEAust FRSPH, was a leading engineer in the design and construction of sewerage systems in South Australia from 1927 until he retired in 1966 as Assistant Director, Engineering Services, Engineering and Water Supply Department.

In 1935 having already attained a Masters degree in civil engineering based on his constructed and published work, he was awarded a Commonwealth Fund Service Research Fellowship, from New York, the first awarded to an Australia. Together with an Honorary Commission from the Governor of South Australia, the award enabled him to study at Havard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; investigate sewage and trade wastes treatment in America, Great Britain, Holland and Germany; and on his return, to produce a report on his findings that helped change Australian practice.

He was very active within the engineering profession, as Chairman of the Adelaide Division of the Institution of Engineers Australia (1950), as a Councillor (1951 to 1968) and President (1967). He also helped to establish the Australian Water and Wastewater Association and was its Federal President in 1964-65. The Association's H. J. N. Hodgson Award for studies by undergraduate students is named in his honour.

Details

Associated major works:
* Glenelg Sewage Treatment Works;

Chronology

1923

Career event - Student Member (StudIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

c. 1924

Education - Bachelor of Civil Engineering (BCE), University of Melbourne

1927 - 1929

Career position - Assistant engineer, Hydraulic Engineer's Department, South Australia

1928

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

1929 -

Career position - Assistant engineer of sewers, South Australia

1934

Education - Master of Civil Engineering, University of Melbourne

1935

Career position - Appointed Honorary Commissioner for South Australia, to inquire into and report on sewerage treatment in the United States of America

1935

Award - Commonwealth Fund Service Research Fellowship in Engineering [First to an Australian. Overseas study tour, to U.S.A. under Prof. Gordon Fair]

1935 - 1936

Career position - Deputy head of Sewerage department, South Australia

1936 - 1943

Career position - Assistant Engineer for Sewerage, Engineering and Water Supply Department, South Australia

1938

Career event - Published report "Sewage and trade wastes treatment in America, Great Britain, Holland and Germany : report of an enquiry commissioned by His Excellency the Governor of the State of South Australia"

1941 - 1945

Career position - Wartime work - design and construction of camps, training schools and related plants.

1943 -

Career position - Engineer for Water and Sewage Treatment, Engineering and Water Supply Department, South Australia

1944

Award - Warren Memorial Prize, Institution of Engineers Australia

1947 -

Career position - Member, South Australian Examining Board, Royal Society of Public Health

1947

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

1947

Career event - Member, Royal Society of Public Health (MRSPH)

1950

Career position - Chairman, Adelaide Division, Institution of Engineers Australia

1951 - 1968

Career position - Member of Council, Institution of Engineers Australia

1954

Career position - Overseas study tour [United Kingdom, examining refuse disposal, and the effects of fluoridation on dental decay]

c. 1955

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

1960 -

Career position - Member of the Radiological Advisory Committee, Health Department, South Australia

c. 1960

Award - Fellow, Royal Society of Public Health (FRSPH)

1964 - 1965

Career position - Federal President, Australian Water and Wastewater Association

c. 1965

Career event - Fellow (FInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London

1965 - 1966

Career position - Assistant Director, Engineering Services, Engineering and Water Supply Department, South Australia

1966

Life event - Retired

1967

Career position - President, Institution of Engineers Australia

13 Sep 1968

Career event - Fellow (FIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia [Former Members were designated Fellows on this date.]

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Hodgson, Henry J, N., Sewage and trade wastes treatment in America, Great Britain, Holland and Germany : report of an enquiry commissioned by His Excellency the Governor of the State of South Australia (Adelaide: Government Printer, 1938), viii, 534 pp. Details

Edited Books

• Legge, J. S. ed., Who's who in Australia 1968 (Melbourne, Victoria: The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, 1968), 955 pp. "Hodgson, Henry Joseph Nichol". p.430. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Prizes of the Institution [Warren Memorial Prize 1942, 1943, 1944; Electrical Association Premium 1941;', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 17 (6) (1945), 116. 1944 Warren Memorial Prize, to Mr H J N Hodgson, MCE AMIEAust, for his paper "Sewage and Sullage Treatment at Small Army and Air Force Camps", presented before the Adelaide Division on 19 March 1943. Details
• Hodgson, H. J. N., 'Some studies of the "Separate Digestion" method of sewage sludge disposal', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 3 (1931), 386-393. Details
• Hodgson, H. J. N., 'Some studies of the "Separate Digestion" method of sewage sludge disposal [Discussion]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 4 (1932), 425-. Details
• Hodgson, H. J. N., 'Some studies of the "Separate Digestion" method of sewage sludge disposal [Discussion]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 5 (1933), 18. Details
• Hodgson, H. J. N., 'Glenelg Sewage Treatment Works', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 7 (1935), 229-250. Details
• Hodgson, H. J. N., 'The operation of water treatment plants with special reference to American and European plants', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 11 (1939), 173-184. Details
• Hodgson, H. J. N., 'Sewage and sullage treatment at small Army and Air Force camps [Part 2]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 15 (1943), 125-133. Details
• Hodgson, H. J. N., 'Sewage and sullage treatment at small Army and Air Force camps [Part 1]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 15 (1943), 101-110. Details
• Hodgson, H. J. N., 'Presidential address: Man - His water supplies and health - yesterday, today and tomorrow.', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 40 (4-5) (1968), 67-72. Details
• Hodgson, H. J. N.; Borrie, E. F.; Davis, J. A.; Clark, E. V., 'Glenelg Sewage Treatment Works [Discussion]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 8 (1936), 141-143. Details
• Hodgson, H. J. N.; Craigie, N. R. M., 'Glenelg Sewage Treatment Works [Discussion]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 8 (1936), 258-259. Details
• Hodgson, H. J. N.; Murrell, J. W.; Gutteridge, A. G., 'Glenelg Sewage Treatment Works [Discussion]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 8 (1936), 215-218. Details

See also

• Hodgson, H. J. N.; Garlick, E. T. M., 'The sewerage works at Colac, Echuca, and Mildura, and experience obtained in their operation [Discussion]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 5 (1933), 407. Details
• Hodgson, H. J. N.; Garlick, E. T. M., 'The sewerage works at Colac, Echuca, and Mildura, and experience obtained in their operation [Discussion]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 5 (1933), 330-331. Details