William Christopher Bennett (4 July 1824 – 29 September 1889) was an Irish born surveyor and engineer active in colonial Australia, Commissioner and Engineer-in-Chief for Roads and Bridges in

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 ...

Early life

Bennett was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland, the eldest son of Ignatius Bennett, a traffic manager, and his wife Alicia, ''née'' Garvey. Bennett was employed as a pupil on various territorial and railway surveys and other works in Ireland from 1840 to 1845, and as assistant engineer in charge of drainage works, under the Board of Public Works in Ireland, from 1845 to 1852.

Surveyor

During 1852-3 Bennett was employed in reporting on the navigation of the Rhone and

Saône The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île. The name deri ...

, and making surveys and reports on the navigation of the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...

, with connecting canals, roads or railways, in

New Grenada The Republic of New Granada was a 1831–1858 Centralism, centralist unitary republic consisting primarily of present-day Colombia and Panama with smaller portions of today's Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Brazil. On 9 May 1834, the nati ...

. Bennett was engaged on the International (French, American and English) Ship Canal Survey at the

Darién Gap The Darién Gap (, , es, Tapón del Darién , ) is a geographic region between the North and South American continents within Central America, consisting of a large watershed, forest, and mountains in Panama's Darién Province and the norther ...

, in 1854, having charge of the English survey on the Pacific side in the absence of Mr. Forde, M.I.C.E., on which occasion Bennett received the thanks of the American Government for having, in conjunction with Lieut. Forsythe and a party from H.M.S. ''Virago'', relieved Lieut.

Isaac Strain Isaac Grier Strain was born March 4, 1821, in Roxbury, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, of Scots-Irish origin, and died May 14, 1857, in Aspinwall, (alternative name of Colón, Panama) Colombia. At age 17 he joined the U.S. Navy to apprentice at s ...

, United States navy, and his missing exploring party, at no small personal risk.

Career in Australia

At the end of 1854 Bennett proceeded, viâ

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, to New South Wales, and was for about ten months attached to the Survey Department as an assistant surveyor. In April 1856 he was appointed assistant engineer to the Commission for the Sewerage and Water Supply of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

; was engaged in the Railway Department, New South Wales, from January to September 1857, and was then transferred to the Department of Roads, which, as assistant engineer, and ultimately as engineer, he assisted Captain (afterwards Colonel)

Ben Hay Martindale Ben Hay Martindale C.B. (1 October 1824 – 26 May 1904) was a British public servant who acted in several managerial positions in the young colony of New South Wales, where he was known as "Captain Martindale". History Martindale was born in Londo ...

, C.B., R.E., in organising. Bennett left the colony for Europe in January 1861, and on his return he was appointed, in November 1862, commissioner and engineering-chief for roads, New South Wales, which office he occupied until a short time before his death. Bennett designed the

Prince Alfred Bridge The Prince Alfred Bridge is a wrought iron truss and timber beam partially-disused road bridge over the Murrumbidgee River and its floodplain at Middleton Drive, Gundagai, Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia. The ...

over the

Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...

, and was engineer for the

Denison Bridge The Denison Bridge is a heritage-listed footbridge over the Macquarie River in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is the fourth oldest metal truss bridge existing in Australia. The bridge, completed in 1870, replaced an earlier bridge tha ...

over the Macquarie River, New South Wales. Bennett was also occasionally employed on the western goldfields and narrow gauge railways, the water supply of

, and the drainage of the

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

. Bennett died on 29 September 1889, at the age of sixty-five in

St Leonards, New South Wales St Leonards is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. St Leonards is located north-west of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of Municipality of La ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, William Christopher 1824 births 1889 deaths Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Australian civil engineers Irish surveyors