Benjamin Herschel Babbage (6 August 1815 – 22 October 1878) was an English engineer, scientist, explorer and politician, best known for his work in the colony of South Australia He invariably signed his name "B. Herschel Babbage" and was frequently referred to as "Herschel Babbage". He was the son of English mathematician and inventor,
Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.
Babbage is considered ...
.
Early life and family
![Benjamin Herschel Babbage 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Benjamin_Herschel_Babbage_3.jpeg)
Babbage was born in London, the eldest son of
Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.
Babbage is considered ...
, the renowned Cambridge mathematician who originated the concept of a programmable
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
, and Georgina Whitmore. His uncle on his mother's side was
William Wolryche-Whitmore
William Wolryche-Whitmore (16 September 1787 – 11 August 1858)
was a Shropshire landowner and British Whig
politician. He held a seat in the House of Commons from 1820 to 1835, representing first Bridgnorth and later Wolverhampton.
His sist ...
, an MP in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
who lobbied for the formation of South Australia and introduced the South Australia Foundation Act into the British Parliament.
At the age of 18, Babbage became a pupil of the
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
and
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
William Chadwell Mylne
William Chadwell Mylne, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (6 April 1781 – 25 December 1863) was an English people, English civil engineer and architect. He was descended from a Scottish family of masons and architects, and was the second ...
, with whom he worked on waterworks projects. In the 1840s, he also worked with
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
, the son of his father's friend
Marc Isambard Brunel
Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (, ; 25 April 1769 – 12 December 1849) was a French-British engineer who is most famous for the work he did in Britain. He constructed the Thames Tunnel and was the father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Born in Franc ...
, on railway planning and building in Italy and England.
Babbage married Laura Jones at
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
on 10 September 1839. The couple had seven children.
In 1850, Babbage was invited by
Patrick Brontë
Patrick Brontë (, commonly ; born Patrick Brunty; 17 March 1777 – 7 June 1861) was an Irish Anglican priest and author who spent most of his adult life in England. He was the father of the writers Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, and of ...
(clergyman and father of the
Brontë sisters) to conduct an inspection in the
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
town of
Haworth
Haworth () is a village in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines, south-west of Keighley, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages includ ...
, partly brought about by Haworth's high rate of early mortality. Babbage was horrified by the unsanitary conditions in the town, and ''The Babbage Report'' to the
General Board of Health
Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environment ...
into the town's water supply and lack of a sewerage system resulted in the board taking notice and working to improve the town's sanitation. He performed a similar inspection in the same year in the
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
town of
Bromyard
Bromyard is a town in Herefordshire, England, in the valley of the River Frome. It lies near the county border with Worcestershire on the A44 between Leominster and Worcester. Bromyard has a number of traditional half-timbered buildings, inclu ...
, with similar findings. He said that he had "met with considerable opposition to the application of the Public Health Act to this town, from a large number of the inhabitants, upon the ground of the supposed expense of carrying out the sanitary reforms which I found to be so much needed." No action was taken by the town
vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
for over twenty years.
South Australia
![Benjamin Babbage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Benjamin_Babbage.jpg)
In 1851, the
Colonial Secretary Earl Grey
Earl Grey is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. In 1801, he was given the title Baron Grey of Howick in the County of Northumberland, and in 1806 he was created Viscou ...
, on the recommendation of the geologist
Sir Henry De la Beche, assigned Babbage to perform a geological and mineralogical survey of the colony of South Australia requested by the colony's government. Babbage arrived in South Australia on 27 November on the ''Hydaspes'', and over the next few years worked on a number of government projects, first setting up the Government Gold Assay Office in Victoria Square.
He was appointed
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
in 1852. In January 1853 he was appointed Chief Engineer by the company undertaking the railway from
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...
to the city. In 1853, Babbage was one of the first five members of the
Mitcham District Council, serving as the council's first chairman. A
ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
in the City of Mitcham was named after him. In 1854 he was elected to the Central Road Board. In 1855, Babbage served as President of the
Adelaide Philosophical Society
The Royal Society of South Australia (RSSA) is a learned society whose interest is in science, particularly, but not only, of South Australia. The major aim of the society is the promotion and diffusion of scientific knowledge, particularly in rel ...
.
In 1857, Babbage was elected to the
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.
Overview
The House of Assembly was creat ...
in the inaugural
election in 1857, representing the electorate of
Encounter Bay
Encounter Bay is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the state's south central coast about south of the state capital of Adelaide. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his encounter on 8 April 1802 with Nicolas Baud ...
.
He resigned late in the year after being appointed to lead an expedition to explore the north of the colony between Lake Torrens and Lake Gairdner.
He was replaced by
Henry Strangways
Henry Bull Templar Strangways (14 November 1832 – 10 February 1920) was an Australian politician and Premier of South Australia.
Strangways was the eldest son of Henry Bull Strangways of Shapwick, Somerset, England. As a boy, he visited Sou ...
in a by-election.
Babbage began his exploration of South Australia in 1856 when sent to search for gold up to the
Flinders Ranges
The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna.
The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabi ...
, when he discovered the
MacDonnell River,
Blanchewater and Mount Hopeful (renamed Mount Babbage after him in 1857 by
George Goyder
George Woodroffe Goyder (24 June 1826 – 2 November 1898) was a surveyor in the Colony of South Australia during the latter half of the nineteenth century.
He rose rapidly in the civil service, becoming Assistant Surveyor-General by 1856 ...
). Going beyond the frontier reached in 1851 by explorers
John Oakden and Henry Hulkes, Babbage also disproved the notion that
Lake Torrens
Lake Torrens (Kuyani: ''Ngarndamukia'') is a large ephemeral, normally endorheic salt lake in central South Australia. After sufficiently extreme rainfall events, the lake flows out through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf.
Isl ...
was a single horseshoe-shaped lake or inland sea, ascertaining a number of gaps in the lake, which were later traversed other explorers such as
Augustus Gregory
Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1 August 1819 – 25 June 1905) was an English-born Australian explorer and surveyor. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions. He was the first Surveyor-General of Queensland. He was appointed a ...
and
Peter Warburton.
On 15 June 1858 near Pernatty Creek he discovered the remains of William Coulthard of Angas Park,
Nuriootpa, who had died of thirst around 10 March 1858. On 22 October 1858 he discovered Emerald Springs.
Babbage also discovered that
Lake Eyre
Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some north of Adelaide. The shallow lake is the depocentre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains the ...
(sighted by
Edward John Eyre
Edward John Eyre (5 August 181530 November 1901) was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and Governor of Jamaica.
Early life
Eyre was born in Whipsnade, Bedfordshire, shortly before his family moved to ...
in 1840) actually consisted of a large northern and a smaller southern lake. A peninsula on Lake Eyre North was named Babbage Peninsula in 1963.
As Babbage continued his explorations, sometimes accompanied by his son, Charles Whitmore Babbage,
the government grew tired of his slow, methodical pace, and the Commissioner of Crown Lands,
Francis Dutton
Francis Stacker Dutton CMG (18 October 1818 – 25 January 1877) was the seventh Premier of South Australia, serving twice, firstly in 1863 and again in 1865.
History
Dutton was born at Cuxhaven, Germany, where his father was British vice-con ...
, responded to the controversy by replacing him with
Peter Warburton in 1858. Babbage complained of unfair treatment and petitioned the House of Assembly to conduct a parliamentary inquiry into the issue. A critically acclaimed book of his pen-and-ink sketches from this expedition is held by the
Mortlock Library
The State Library of South Australia, or SLSA, formerly known as the Public Library of South Australia, located on North Terrace, Adelaide, is the official library of the Australian state of South Australia. It is the largest public research l ...
.
[
He announced his candidature for the 1877 Legislative Council elections but refused to participate in any public meetings and did not go to the polls.] and failed to win a seat.
His last years were spent building a mansion near South Road, St Mary's, where he had an excellent vineyard and was a keen winemaker (nine varieties on 25 acres in 1878). He called the mansion ''The Rosary'', but locals referred to it as ''Babbage's Castle''. It was built in 1873 near the burned-out cottage of John Wickham Daw, on Daws Road, and was massively constructed of concrete in a fantastic baroque style. The building developed structural defects however and remained deserted from around 1905 to around 1935, when it was demolished.
He died at his home, and his remains were interred in the family vault in the cemetery of St Mary's on the Sturt
St Mary's on the Sturt is an Anglican church on South Road, St Marys, Adelaide, South Australia.
History
The original St Mary's Anglican church was built of native timbers on donated land on the Onkaparinga Road midway between the Sturt and Bro ...
.
Family
Babbage married Laura Jones (c. 1813 – 22 July 1899) at Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
on 10 September 1839. Among their children were
Charles Whitmore Babbage (1842 – 17 August 1923), their eldest son, was a prize-winning student at Adelaide Educational Institution
Adelaide Educational Institution was a privately run non-sectarian academy for boys in Adelaide founded in 1852 by John Lorenzo Young.B. K. Hyams'Young, John Lorenzo (1826–1881)' ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 6, Melbourne Unive ...
1853–58.[There is no reason to believe that Thomas William Babbage (4 October 1859 – 1945), a fellow student and later manager of the Glenelg Railway Company, was closely related.] Herschel wrote to his father
:"I have found a good school for the boys, John Lorenzo's non-denominational school. The largest private independent school in South Australia at this time."
Charles accompanied his father on his journeys of exploration 1857–62, recording scenes in a small sketchbook which has been preserved. He was a member of the Adelaide Philosophical Society and for some years its Honorary Secretary.
He married Amelia Barton on 28 July 1869. While working as a teller with the Bank of Adelaide he started speculating on the Stock Exchange and losing money. On 1 July 1876 he was charged with embezzling £1616, and in September was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for that and passing a fraudulent cheque.
During his internment his wife ran their home as a boarding house for students of Prince Alfred College
, motto_translation = Do Brave Deeds and Endure
, established = 1869
, type = Independent, single-sex, day & boarding
, headmaster = David Roberts
, chaplain = Reverend ...
and ran drawing classes. His family moved to New Zealand in 1881. He was released from prison some time after 1880 and moved to New Zealand, for a while farming in Wanganui
Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...
, then "Croftmoor" near Hāwera
Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was established i ...
from 1883 to 1894 then moved to St John's Hill
Caer Mote is a hill of in the north of the English Lake District near Bothel, Cumbria. Its summit lies just outside the boundary of the Lake District National Park and offers a view of Bassenthwaite Lake. Under the name Caermote Hill it is ...
, Wanganui
Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...
where he took an active role in local affairs, and was a prominent member of the Camera Club and the Wanganui Astronomical Society. He was active in the Beautifying Society and did much work on Virginia Lake. His wife was on the board of the Wanganui Orphanage from 1896 to 1918 and president from 1910. Their home "Rotokawau" was on St John's Hill above the Winter Garden; the gully at the rear is called "Babbage's Gully". He died at home after a brief illness.
The National Library of New Zealand has a collection of his photographs. Babbage Place in Wanganui was named for him.
*Charles Ernest Babbage (17 June 1870 – 24 December 1878)
*Alfred Whitmore Babbage (26 Oct 1871 – 27 June 1957) married Kate Elizabeth Hobbs on 7 July 1900
*Henry Herschel Babbage (6 October 1873 – c. 1947)
*Herbert Ivan Babbage
Benjamin Herschel Babbage (6 August 1815 – 22 October 1878) was an English engineer, scientist, explorer and politician, best known for his work in the colony of South Australia He invariably signed his name "B. Herschel Babbage" and was frequ ...
(10 August 1875 – 14 October 1916) was a noted N.Z. artist who studied under David Edward Hutton (1866–1946) then at Académie Julian
The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...
, Paris. He died in England while serving with the Royal Defence Corps The Royal Defence Corps was a corps of the British Army formed in 1916 and disbanded in 1936.
As part of the reorganisation of home defence forces by Field Marshal Sir John French, Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces, the Royal Defence Corps was crea ...
in World War I. The National Library of New Zealand has a collection of his photographs. Wanganui's Sarjeant Gallery has six of his paintings.
*Gordon Swaine Babbage (c. 1885 – c. 1 July 1975) in Wanganui, married Florence Mabel Josephine Rutherford (c. 1893 – c. 1 September 1940) on 14 April 1914
:* Dr. Stuart Barton Babbage (4 January 1916 – 16 Nov 2012), born in Auckland, married Elizabeth King in 1943, became Anglican Dean of Sydney in 1947, then of Melbourne (and Principal of Ridley College
Ridley College (also known as RC, Ridley) is a private boarding and day university-preparatory school located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, 20 miles (32 km) from Niagara Falls. The school confers the Ontario Secondary School Diploma ...
) in 1953.
Eden Herschel Babbage (c. 1844 – 5 February 1924) was also a prize-winning student at AEI 1853–1859.[ He married Louisa Harriot Burton (d. 22 September 1917) on 30 April 1872. An employee of the ]Bank of Australasia
The Bank of Australasia was an Australian bank in operation from 1835 to 1951.
Headquartered in London, the bank was incorporated by Royal Charter in March 1834. It had initially been planned to additionally include first South Africa and then ...
from 1860, he was transferred to Sale, Victoria
Sale is a city situated in the Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria and the council seat of the Shire of Wellington. It had an estimated urban population of 15,682 according to the 2021 census. The total population including the ...
in 1877 then promoted to manager of the branch at Wanganui, New Zealand
Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whanganu ...
, followed by successively more responsible posts until his retirement in 1906 at his home "Rawhiti" on Clanville Road, Roseville, New South Wales
Roseville is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Ku-ring-gai and Willoughby. Roseville Chase is a separate ...
, where he was active as councillor and president of the Progress Association. A memorial was erected to him, the "Father of Roseville" on the corner of Babbage Road (which was named for him) and Ormonde Road,
*Francis Eden Babbage (8 May 1873 – 1 April 1949) married Eleanor Mary Molesworth on 11 February 1903. He followed his father in the Australasian Bank.
:*Max Babbage (13 January 1908 – )
:*Neville Babbage (5 February 1912 – ) collected much Babbage ephemera now held by Sydney's Powerhouse Museum
The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Park, Sydney, Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle ...
.
*Zara Georgina (20 February 1875 – ) born in Adelaide
*Laura Louise Irene Babbage (19 January 1881 – ) born at Wanganui N.Z.
Henry Stainton Babbage (29 September 1853 – 11 June 1889), his youngest son, was also a prize-winning student at AEI. He married Emma Rosetta Leverington. His twin, Ada Isabella Babbage died in 1855.
*(Rupert Clement) Henry Stainton Babbage (1889 – 21 January 1943) married Dorothy Alexanderina Brown in March 1912. They divorced in August 1938. He married again, to Myrtle, née Ramsdon.
Ada Rosalie Babbage (12 November 1855 – 1936) married William D. Clare on 16 Nov 1881
Dugald Bromhead Babbage
Herschel's brother Dugald Bromhead (13 March 1823 – September 1901) arrived in Adelaide on the ''Grecian'' on 24 September 1849 and worked a farm on Goodwood Road. He worked as assistant to his brother in the Assay Office in 1852, helped found the Adelaide Philosophical Society in 1853 and in 1854 surveyed the route of the proposed Port Adelaide to Adelaide railway. Herschel, while protective of his less able younger brother, despaired of his propensity to mix with social inferiors and his fondness for drink. He married Anne Lea at Sturt on 7 March 1854. Their children included:
*Dugald Herschel Babbage (15 December 1854 – ) returned to UK on the ''Orient'' in 1882
*Walter Henry Babbage (1 August 1856 – 18 December 1883)
*Louisa Ann Babbage (18 January 1859 – ?)
Sources
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babbage, Benjamin Herschel
1815 births
1878 deaths
English explorers
Explorers of South Australia
Members of the South Australian House of Assembly
English emigrants to Australia
Engineers from London
Australian winemakers
19th-century Australian politicians
Charles Babbage