Benjamin Hill Gillman (19 February 1870 – 14 March 1945) was a traffic manager of
South Australian Railways
South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Austr ...
.
Career
Gillman was born at
Gilberton, South Australia
Gilberton (formerly Gilbert Town) is an inner northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia on the northern bank of the River Torrens. It is a short distance from Adelaide's city centre. It is bounded by the river, Park Terrace, Stephen Terrace a ...
to Customs official Thomas Sherlock Gillman (31 March 1843 – 24 January 1926) and Elizabeth Gillman, née Skinner, (c. 1850 – 27 September 1921).
Gillman was educated at the
Model School on
Sturt Street, where he was a exhibition-winning student in 1883 transferring to
St Peter's College, where he was one of their best all-round athletes and a popular participant in amateur theatricals. He matriculated in 1886 with honours in mathematics and won the McCulloch Exhibition in Science. He did not proceed to university, but in 1887 joined the
South Australian Railways
South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Austr ...
department as a cadet.
He was, in 1908, a founder of the Railway Officers' Association, and its first president.
John Newland MP, an ex-railways employee, had a vital part in its formation, and acted as its first secretary.
In June 1924 he was selected by Chief Railways Commissioner
Webb to accompany Divisional Superintendent
C. B. Anderson on a mission to England and America, to investigate the latest ideas in railway management. On their return, he gave public lectures on his findings.
He was, in 1925, the first director of the Railways Institute, created as a social and educational arm of the Railways Department, effectively side-lining a man described in parliament as "one of the most competent officers in the Railways Department".
He held that post until 1932, when he succeeded A. N. Day as traffic manager. He retired in August 1935.
He died at his home at Second avenue
Royston Park, South Australia
Royston Park is a suburb of Adelaide in the City of Norwood Payneham St Peters. This is a narrow suburb at a little more than 200 m wide. Royston Park is bordered by Joslin and Marden, along with the River Torrens.
Royston Park's most not ...
.
Other interests
In 1891 Gillman and another Railways employee, James Wardlaw Gordon, founded the
Modern Pickwick Club, an exclusive association of bachelors "for the intellectual and social improvement of members". Gillman and his friend Norman Malcolm, also a "Modern Pickwickian", married daughters of
James Marshall, thereby exempting themselves from membership.
Gillman was involved in amateur theatre, an actor with Adelaide's Garrick Dramatic Club.
Gillman served as chairman of the State Unemployment Relief Council and the Commonwealth Employment Council, for some years.
He was vice-president of the Royal Society of St George,
[ and in 1937–1938 president of the Commonwealth Club, Adelaide.
He was president of the Church of England Boys' Home at the time of his death.
]
Family
Gillman married Annie Marshall (1874 – 31 May 1944) on 17 March 1897, at age 27. Annie was the eldest daughter of merchant James Marshall. Gillman's journalist friend (and fellow Modern Pickwick Club member) Norman Malcolm married Annie Marshall's sister Effie Marshall in 1901.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillman, Benjamin
1870 births
1945 deaths
Australian people in rail transport