C. Y. O'Connor
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Charles Yelverton O'Connor (11 January 1843–March 10, 1902) was an Irish engineer, who is best-known for his work in Australia, especially the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme.
He was born in Gravelmount, Castletown, County Meath,[1] and was educated at the Waterford Endowed School (also known as Bishop Foy's School). In 1859, he was apprenticed to J. Chaloner Smith as a railway engineer.[2] In 1864, [3] at the age of 21, he migrated to New Zealand, and was appointed assistant engineer for the Province of Canterbury on 6 September 1866.[4]. After holding other positions, O'Connor became inspecting engineer for the whole of the mid-South Island. In 1883, he was appointed Under-Secretary of Public Works in New Zealand and in 1890 he was appointed Marine Engineer for the whole colony.
O'Connor had much experience in harbour and dock construction by April 1891, when he resigned his position to become Engineer-in-Chief of Western Australia. There he was responsible for the construction of Fremantle Harbour and the pipeline project that supplied water to the Eastern Goldfields.
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[edit] Fremantle Harbour
The construction of Fremantle Harbour [5] was probably O'Connor's greatest personal triumph, as his proposal to build the harbour within the entrance to the Swan River was contrary to previous expert advice that this was impracticable and that the construction would require constant dredging. Work commenced in 1892 in removing a limestone bar and sand shoals at the mouth of the Swan River and was successfully completed in 1903. On the 4th May 1897 the first overseas passenger vessel, the Sultan berthed alongside the wharf, which had been named Victoria Quay in honour of Queen Victoria, who celebrated her Diamond Jubilee that year. In that same year O'Connor had travelled to London to receive the Order of St Michael and St George, in what was his 54th year (Evans 2001:179).
One hundred years of continued use of Fremantle Harbour by heavy shipping has vindicated O'Connor's technical judgement.
[edit] Goldfields Water Supply Scheme
O'Connor is best known for his work on the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, also known as the Goldfields Pipeline. This pipeline — perhaps the world's longest water main — carries water 330 miles (530km) from Perth to Kalgoorlie. A succession of gold rushes in the Yilgarn region near Southern Cross in 1887, at Coolgardie in 1892, and at Kalgoorlie in 1893 caused a population explosion in the barren and dry desert centre of Western Australia, exemplified by towns like Cunderdin and Merredin. On 16th July 1896, John Forrest introduced to Western Australian Parliament a bill to authorise the raising of a loan of £2.5 million to construct the scheme: the pipeline would cart five million gallons (23,000 m³) of water per day to the Goldfields from a dam on the Helena River near Mundaring Weir in Perth, pumped in eight successive stages through 330 miles (530 km) of 30 inch (760 mm) diameter pipe to the Mount Charlotte Reservoir in Kalgoorlie. The water is then reticulated to various mining centres in the Goldfields.
O'Connor was subjected to prolonged criticism by members of the press and also the Western Australian Parliament over the Scheme. [6] He took his own life on 10 March 1902 by riding his horse into the surf south of Fremantle and shooting himself. [7] His suicide took place less than a year before Forrest successfully turned on the flow of water from Mundaring Weir in Perth to Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. The beach where O'Connor died was named after him and there is a statue of him in the water.
Evans, describes how political machinations and individual greed led to many libellous newspaper articles about O'Connor towards the end of the pipeline project. One article in particular in The Sunday Times, 9 February 1902, is thought to have contributed to his death. Accusing O'Connor of corruption, it read, in part:
| ...And apart from any distinct charge of corruption this man has exhibited such gross blundering or something worse, in his management of great public works it is no exaggeration to say that he has robbed the taxpayer of this state of many millions of money...This crocodile imposter has been backed up in all his reckless extravagant juggling with public funds, in all his nefarious machinations behind the scenes by the kindred-souled editor of the West Australian. —(Evans 2001:219) |
The lake created by Mundaring Weir is now known as Lake O'Connor, and provides drinking water for the towns along the pipeline to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
[edit] In society
A bronze statue of O'Connor by Pietro Porcelli stands in front of the Fremantle Port Authority buildings, commemorating O'Connor's achievements.
The novel The Drowner by Robert Drewe provides a fictionalised account of O'Connor and the building of the pipeline.
On 7 December 1898, his daughter Eva married George Julius at St John's Church, Fremantle [8]. Julius was the first chairman of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) which later became the CSIRO.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Evans, 2001 p.13
- ^ Evans, 2001 p.39
- ^ A GLIMPSE OF ONE OF THE GIANTS WHO BUILT OUR NATION By P.W. Davis, based upon the book C.Y. O'CONNOR, THE CHIEF, written by Merab Tauman. Heritage Quarterly Magazine. Retrieved 19 August 2006.
- ^ Evans 2001:53
- ^ Western Australia. Public Works Dept. Fremantle Harbour works plan National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 August 2006.
- ^ George Negus Tonight Transcript of broadcast 6.30pm on 18/10/2004. Retrieved 19 August 2006.
- ^ CY O’CONNOR CENTENARY (PDF) www.fremantleports.com.au. Retrieved 19 August 2006.
- ^ Julius, Sir George Alfred (1873 - 1946) Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition. Retrieved 19 August 2006.
- Ayris, Cyril. C.Y.O'Connor : a brief biography West Perth, W.A. : Cyril Ayris Freelance, 2004. ISBN 0-9578853-4-2
- Drewe, Robert. The drowner Sydney : Picador, 1997. ISBN 0-330-36012-4
- Evans, A. G. C.Y. O'Connor : his life and legacy . Crawley, W. A.: University of Western Australia Press, 2001. ISBN 1-876268-62-X
- Hasluck, Alexandra. C.Y. O'Connor. Melbourne : Oxford University Press, 1965.
- Tauman, Merab. The chief : C.Y. O'Connor . Nedlands : University of Western Australia Press, 1978. ISBN 0-85564-123-1
- Webb, Martyn J. Death of a hero : the strange suicide of Charles Yelverton O'Connor. Early days Vol. 11, part 1 (1995), p. 81-111.
[edit] External links
- Serle, Percival (1949). “O'Connor, Charles”, Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
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- This article incorporates text from the public domain 1949 edition of Dictionary of Australian Biography from
Project Gutenberg of Australia, which is in the public domain in Australia and the United States of America.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | O'Connor, Charles Yelverton |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | C. Y. O'Connor |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Engineer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 11 January 1843 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gravelmount, Castletown, County Meath |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 10, 1902 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Kwinana, Western Australia |
