John Tregerthen Short (27 July 1858 – 26 January 1933), often and incorrectly referred to as John Thomas Short, was commissioner for West Australian Railways 1908–1919.

Biography

Short was born in

St Ives, Cornwall St Ives ( kw, Porth Ia, meaning "Ia of Cornwall, St Ia's cove") is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commerci ...

, which he left for a life at sea at an early age. In 1878 he left his ship at

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 ...

and 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 ...

, and after a rapid series of promotions was in 1881 appointed stationmaster at Petersburg (now

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

), between

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

— a major terminal in the age of steam and when the South Australian railway network was more extensive than today. In 1889 he left for Western Australia to take charge of the Great Southern Railways, which ran from

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

to Albany, owned by the West Australian Land Company. In 1896 the line was taken over by the WA Government and the following year Short was appointed Chief Traffic Manager for the State. In 1906 a royal commission was held to investigate allegations raised in parliament by H. E. Bolton that Short and George Alfred Julius, another high railways official, had engaged railway tradesmen to do work for them on government time, and that the Commissioner, W. J. George (ex-MLA), had colluded by suppressing the information. The commission found the allegations baseless. In 1907 Short succeeded George, first as acting Commissioner, and in July 1908 to the substantive position, and made permanent in 1913. He retired on 30 June 1919. He died at his home in Altona Street, West Perth and his remains were interred at the Guildford Cemetery.

Retrospect

His tenure of eleven years was notable as a period of great expansion (190 miles of line in 1896 to 1,516 in 1904), but he created considerable resentment in the goldfields area of

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

and Coolgardie when some passenger services were cancelled. His successor, Colonel Pope, was more diplomatic, and able to implement changes without arousing unnecessary resistance.

Family

Short was married to Lorie Caroline Short (died c. 9 August 1937). Among their children were: *Mary Short *May Short married Joseph Robert Woodruff Gardam on 17 November 1913 *Grace Short married D. Eardley McLaren on 22 February 1932 one of these daughters was born in Petersburg, SA on 4 November 1882. *second son Martin Short (c. September 1888 – 29 June 1900)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Short, John 1858 births 1933 deaths Railway commissioners of Western Australia British emigrants to the Colony of South Australia