Rawnsley, Henry Charles (1817 - 1873)

Summary

Henry Rawnsley was a surveyor who came to New South Wales in 1841 and for three years was employed by the colonial government. After returning to the United Kingdom he was again in Australia in 1847, this time holding several positions with the South Australian government. During the next four years he constructed public infrastructure, found a route through the mouth of the River Murray, and, in controversial circumstances, surveyed the coast of Kangaroo Island. After government retrenchments, Rawnsley left South Australia, spending the next few years moving between Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania. He finally settled in Queensland in 1859, being appointed surveyor in the Department of Lands. In this role he worked in several parts of the colony, and seemed to have a successful career (although as Commissioner for Crown Lands in Maryborough settlers thought he was too slow in conducting land surveys). Rawnsley was a noted naturalist. He discovered a bird that proved to be a hybrid between the Satin bowerbird and the Regent bowerbird, and which ornithologist Silvester Diggles named Ptilonorhynchus rawnsleyi. Rawnsley was an active member of the Queensland Philosophical Society, serving on council for several years, and of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society. Rawnsley's Bluff, near Wilpena Pound, South Australia, was named in his honour.

Details

Chronology

1841

Life event - Migrated to New South Wales

1841 - 1844

Career position - Commissioner for Crown Lands and Surveyor in Sydney and Cumberland District, New South Wales

1844

Life event - Returned to the United Kingdom

1847

Life event - Migrated to South Australia

1847 - 1851

Career position - Assistant Colonial Engineer, Assistant to the Surveyor-General, and Assistant Colonial Architect, South Australia

1851

Career event - Retrenched

March 1852 - May 1852

Career position - Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands for the gold workings at Mt Alexander, Victoria

1859? - 1873

Career position - Member, Queensland Philosophical Society

1860 - 1866

Career position - Surveyor, Queensland Lands and Works Department

1862 - ?

Career position - Foundation Member, Queensland Acclimatisation Society

1866 - 1873

Career position - Surveyor, Queensland Lands Department

Related entries

Published resources

Journal Articles

• Spillman, Janet, 'Henry Charles Rawnsley, controversial surveyor and respected naturalist', Queensland history journal, 25 (2) (2022), 152-66. Details