George Alfred Julius
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| George Alfred Julius | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Name | George Alfred Julius |
| Birth date | April 29, 1873 |
| Birth place | Norwich, Norfolk, England |
| Date of death | June 28, 1946 |
| Education | Christchurch College, Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Parents | George Julius, Bishop of Christchurch, Archbishop of New Zealand |
| Children | three sons |
| Work | |
| Engineering Discipline | Mechanical |
| Practice name | Julius, Poole, Gibson |
| Significant projects | automatic totalisator |
| Significant Awards | founder and president, Institution of Engineers, Australia |
George Alfred Julius (born 29 April 1873 in Norwich, England - died 28 June 1946 in Killara, New South Wales, Australia) was a prominent English engineer, inventor, administrator and businessman in his adopted country.
[edit] Education
He emigrated to Australia with his family when his father became Archdeacon of Ballarat, Victoria, and from there to New Zealand, when his father was made the first Bishop of Christchurch. Graduating from the new Christchurch College, in the same year as Ernest Rutherford, he obtained a premium apprenticeship with West Australian Railways, very much a protegee of C.Y. O'Connor, who was engineer to the colony.
[edit] Early career and the tote
His progress was rapid and varied. His primary duties were in the railway design department at Midland Junction, but he alo taught in a technical college and wrote a book on West Australian hardwoods. He also began to invent, producing a voting machine. He also worked on the Kalgoorlie water pipeline saving it from disaster when its construction fell into difficulties.
In 1908 he relocated to Sydney, where he was based for the rest of his life, starting an engineering consultancy with Poole and Gibson, but retaining the right of private practice. His automatic totalisator work began to mature, and he installed a fully mechanical system at Ellerslie racecourse Auckland, New Zealand.
The machine was successful as the tote, as it came to be known made betting safe, convenient and reliable. Improved electromechanical machines were rapidly deployed at Australian racecouses, Julius building a demonstration machine to raise money from investors for his company Automatic Totalisators.
[edit] Other activities
He became interested in the development of the profession of engineering, and was instrumental in helping set up both state and national bodies, including the Institution of Engineers, Australia. His practice Julius, Poole and Gibson flourished. He became interested in politics (always in a backroom role) but having incisive views on the development of industry in Australia, and some original views on microeconomic theory.
He was appointed the first director of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, which later became the CSIRO.
He was given leadership roles in many organisations such as the Employment Trust WWII Inventions Board. He died shortly after the conclusion of WWII.
