John Brewer Cameron (1843 - 1897) was a geodetic surveyor in Australia. He is best known for his survey of the border between

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. He also surveyed part of the border between

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Early life

John Brewer Cameron was born on 31 December 1843 in

Kilmonivaig Kilmonivaig ( gd, Cill Mo Naomhaig) is a small village, situated close to the southeast end of Loch Lochy in Spean Bridge, Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. Fort William lies approximately 15 ...

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

, Scotland.

Border between Queensland and New South Wales

Between 1879 and 1881 the official survey of the 29ºS parallel border between Queensland and New South Wales was conducted by Cameron (employed by the

New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

) and

George Chale Watson George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...

(employed by the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...

). Astronomical observations were taken at the Barringun

telegraph station Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

to determine the latitude and longitude. Following these observations, the

Zero Obelisk Zero Obelisk is a heritage-listed survey marker on the east bank of the Warrego River, Barringun, Shire of Paroo, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1879. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. The Zero ...

was erected on the banks of the

Warrego River The Warrego River is an intermittent river that is part of the Darling River, Darling catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, which is located in South West Queensland and in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana region of New South Wales, Aus ...

, just north of the town of Barringun. Cameron's_corner

From this mark, the first 5-mile chord was produced westerly and the

mile post A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to s ...

s offset from this chord to the arc (chord and arc are used when surveying latitude to allow for

curvature of the Earth Spherical Earth or Earth's curvature refers to the approximation of figure of the Earth as a sphere. The earliest documented mention of the concept dates from around the 5th century BC, when it appears in the writings of Greek philosophers. I ...

). This continued until the survey intersected longitude 141º (a point now known as Cameron Corner), a distance of 285 miles 24.96 chains. That spot is marked by the

Cameron Corner Survey Marker Cameron Corner Survey Marker is a heritage-listed survey marker in the locality of Cameron Corner, Shire of Bulloo, Queensland, Australia. The survey marker is at the border corner of South-West Queensland with New South Wales and South Aust ...

. Watson withdrew from the survey and Cameron then returned to the Zero Obelisk at Barringun and marked the line to the east in a similar fashion. Cameron then erected a 1 ton survey post on the west bank of the Barwon River to mark the end of the survey.

New Guinea

For approximately the last 10 years of his life he was living in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. There he worked as a surveyor in New Guinea, mostly in the service of the government but also on private work. He owned a large amount of good land and used part of it as a plantation. He was the first magistrate in the western part of the territory. He established the Government station at Mabaduan (), but then relocated to

Daru Daru is the capital of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea and a former Catholic bishopric. Daru town falls under the jurisdiction of Daru Urban LLG. The township is entirely located on an island that goes by the same name, which is loca ...

, leaving the station in charge of Mr Hely.

Death

Cameron came to Brisbane in December 1897 to seek partners to help him develop his land in New Guinea. While there, he died of heart disease on 31 December 1897 at the Grand Hotel where he was staying. As he was unmarried and his family were in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, a private funeral was arranged in Brisbane, and the

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly ...

communicated news of his death to his family. He was buried on 31 December 1897 in

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland's largest cemet ...

Legacy

The border point Cameron Corner is named after him and also the locality of Cameron Corner. The Zero Obilisk, Cameron Corner Survey Marker and

Cameron's 1 Ton Survey Post Cameron's 1 Ton Survey Post is a heritage-listed survey marker at the Barwon River (New South Wales), Barwon River, Mungindi, Queensland, Mungindi, Shire of Balonne, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1882. It was added to the Queensl ...

are listed on the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As a ...

References

Attribution

This article was based on material fro
Surveying the Queensland New South Wales border
published by

The State of Queensland The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy was form ...

2018 under CC-BY-4.0br>licence
accessed on 7 October 2018.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, John Brewer Australian surveyors 1843 births 1897 deaths