George Chaffey (28 January 1848 – 1 March 1932) was a Canadian–born

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

who with his brother

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

developed large parts of Southern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, including what became the community of Etiwanda and cities of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, and Upland. They undertook similar developments in Australia which became the city of

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

, and the town of Renmark and Paringa.

Biography

Chaffey was born in

Brockville, Ontario Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically independent of the county. It is included with ...

and attended Kingston Grammar School on

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

. Chaffey's family was of Scottish heritage. Although not interested in schoolroom instruction, he read engineering books from the local library. Chaffey left school at 13 years of age, was fascinated by the shipbuilding yard of his father and became an apprentice marine engineer in May 1862. By 1880 he was well established as a designer of ships for

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

traffic. While visiting his father in California that year, however, he became interested in the Riverside irrigation colony. By 1886 he and his brother William had established the irrigation colonies of Etiwanda,

, and Upland, which were extremely successful, thanks in large part to innovative features such as

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

systems using mountain water, mutual water companies which eliminated disputes over water, and their creation and endowment of the Chaffey College of Agriculture. George's innovative electrical system at Etiwanda led Los Angeles to hire him to install its first street lights. He eventually became president and engineer of the Los Angeles Electric Company. In 1886, at the invitation of the South Australian and Victorian colonial governments, the Chaffeys undertook several irrigation projects in Australia, establishing colonies at Renmark and then

. Though the Chaffeys appointed Herbert Jones to lecture on the Mildura project 'throughout the colonies', using lantern slides from J. W. Lindt's photographs, they were financial failures, and George Chaffey returned to California. William remained in Mildura, which eventually became successful. Later, George joined the California Development Company as chief engineer and undertook a project to irrigate the

Colorado Desert California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna. Geography and geology The Colorado D ...

. The Colorado Desert was renamed by the Canadian party and is now known as the Imperial Valley. Chaffey along with the other pioneers believed this name would bring more people to this southeastern part of

. In 1905, Chaffey purchased the ranch of John Shepherd at Manzanar, California, located in California's Owens Valley. Chaffey subdivided the ranch, along with other adjacent ranches, and founded the town of Manzanar in 1910. Chaffey's Owens Valley Improvement Company built an irrigation system and planted thousands of fruit trees, and by 1920, the town had more than twenty-five homes, a two-room school, a town hall, and a general store. Also at that time, nearly of apple, pear, and peach trees were being grown, along with grapes, prunes, potatoes, corn, alfalfa and large vegetable and flower gardens. In 1912, Chaffey moved to

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 census figure. Whittier was incorporated in ...

, joining his son John, where he lived for a number of years while tending to his invalid wife Ann. Chaffey later retired to

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

. He died in Ontario, California, on 1 March 1932 and was buried at Bellevue Memorial Park in Ontario.Bellevue Memorial Park: George Chaffey (1848–1932)
Image:George-Chaffey.png, Statue of George Chaffey in front of the Upland civic center Image:ChaffeyBridgeMildura.jpg, George Chaffey Bridge over

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

Sources

www.chaffey.org, article by Robert E. Ellingwood and Marie Boyd

Ontario Heritage Foundation

Biography

See also

Sources

References

Further reading