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Charles Yelverton O'Connor, (11 January 1843 – 10 March 1902), was an Irish
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
who is best known for his work in
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
, especially the construction of
Fremantle Harbour Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval visits ...
, thought to be impossible, and the
Goldfields Water Supply Scheme The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a pipeline and dam project that delivers drinking water, potable water from Mundaring Weir in Perth to communities in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, particularly Coolgardie, Western Australia, Coo ...
.


Early life

O'Connor was born in Gravelmount House, a small
country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...
in Castletown Kilpatrick, a parish located between Kells and
Ardee Ardee (; , ) is a town and townland in County Louth, Ireland. It is located at the intersection of the N2, N52, and N33 roads. The town shows evidence of development from the thirteenth century onward but as a result of the continued develo ...
in the north of
County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. He was the third and youngest son and fourth child of John O'Connor, a farmer and company secretary, and his wife Mary Elizabeth, ''née'' O'Keefe. O'Connor was home-schooled by his aunt before being educated at Waterford Endowed School (also known as Bishop Foy's School). In 1859 he was apprenticed to John Chaloner Smith as a railway engineer. At the age of 21 he emigrated to New Zealand, and on 6 September 1866 was appointed assistant engineer for Canterbury Province under Edward Dobson. His first task was the construction of the
Otira Otira is a small township fifteen kilometres north of Arthur's Pass in the central South Island of New Zealand. It is on the northern approach to the pass, a saddle between the Ōtira and Bealey Rivers high in the Southern Alps. A possible me ...
Gorge section of the road over
Arthur's Pass Arthur's Pass, previously called Camping Flat then Bealey Flats, and for some time officially Arthurs Pass, is a township in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand, located in the Selwyn district. It is a popular base for explori ...
, so that the
gold fields Gold Fields Limited (formerly The Gold Fields of South Africa) is one of the world's largest gold mining firms. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company is listed on both the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the New York St ...
on the West Coast became easier to access. After holding other positions, O'Connor became inspecting engineer for the mid-
South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
. In 1873 he married Scottish-born Susan Laetitia Ness, and they had eight children, four girls (including Girl Guiding commissioner Bridget Yelverton Lee Steere and painter Kathleen O'Connor) and four boys while in New Zealand (their fifth child, Charles Goring Yelverton O'Connor, died aged 7 months in a home accident). In 1883 O'Connor was appointed Under-Secretary of Public Works in New Zealand, and in 1890 he was appointed Marine Engineer for the
colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...
. By 1891, O'Connor had much experience in harbour and dock construction when he resigned his position in April that year to become Engineer-in-Chief of
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
. His wife and children relocated with him to Australia. There he was responsible for the construction of
Fremantle Harbour Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval visits ...
and the
Goldfields Water Supply Scheme The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a pipeline and dam project that delivers drinking water, potable water from Mundaring Weir in Perth to communities in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, particularly Coolgardie, Western Australia, Coo ...
project, which supplied water to the
Eastern Goldfields The Eastern Goldfields is part of the Western Australian Goldfields in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, covering the present and former gold-mining area east of Perth. Extent and name origin The region encompasses the to ...
. He was the inaugural Engineer in Chief of the
Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...
.


Fremantle Harbour

The construction of
Fremantle Harbour Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval visits ...
Western Australia. Public Works Dept. Fremantle Harbour works plan
National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 August 2006.
was probably O'Connor's greatest personal triumph, as his proposal to build the harbour within the entrance to the Swan River was contrary to previous expert advice that this was impracticable and that the construction would require constant dredging. Work commenced in 1892 in removing a
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
bar and sand
shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body ...
s at the mouth of the Swan River and was successfully completed in 1903. On 4 May 1897 the first ocean-going steamer, the ''Sultan'', berthed at South Quay (renamed Victoria Quay on 26 July 1901 in honour of the late
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
). At age 54, O'Connor travelled to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
to be inducted a Companion of the
Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...
. More than 100 years of continued use of Fremantle Harbour by heavy shipping has erased all doubt concerning O'Connor's technical judgement.


Railways

O'Connor was engineer-in-chief and acting general manager of railways in Western Australia. Upgrades of existing lines and plans for new lines were made. The search for water for the Northam-Southern Cross route was initiated by O'Connor. He was in charge of the railway.


Goldfields Water Supply Scheme

O'Connor is best known for his work on the
Goldfields Water Supply Scheme The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a pipeline and dam project that delivers drinking water, potable water from Mundaring Weir in Perth to communities in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, particularly Coolgardie, Western Australia, Coo ...
, also known as the ''Goldfields Pipeline''. The pipeline carries water from
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
to
Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just 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 referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...
. A succession of
gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...
es at
Southern Cross CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system to ...
in 1887, at Coolgardie in 1892, and at Kalgoorlie in 1893 caused a population explosion in the barren and dry desert centre of Western Australia, exemplified by towns like Cunderdin and Merredin. On 16 July 1896,
John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister in ...
introduced to
Western Australian Parliament The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, which constitutes the legislative branch of the state's political system. The parliament consists of the King (represented by the gov ...
a bill to authorise the raising of a loan of £2.5 million to construct the scheme: the pipeline would pump of water per day to the Goldfields from a
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...
on the
Helena River The Helena River is a tributary of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in Western Australia. The river rises in country east of Mount Dale and flows north-west to Mundaring Weir, Western Australia, Mundaring Weir, where it is dammed. ...
near Mundaring Weir in Perth, pumped in eight successive stages through 330 miles of pipe to the Mount Charlotte Reservoir in Kalgoorlie. The water is then reticulated to various mining centres in the Goldfields. The lake created by Mundaring Weir is now known as ''Lake O'Connor'', and still provides drinking water for the towns along the pipeline to Kalgoorlie.


Death

O'Connor was subjected to prolonged criticism by members of the press and also many members of the
Western Australian Parliament The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, which constitutes the legislative branch of the state's political system. The parliament consists of the King (represented by the gov ...
over the scheme. John Forrest, always a supporter, had left Western Australian politics to become federal defence minister. Defamatory attacks by the press had wounded O'Connor. Evans describes how political machinations and individual greed led to many libellous newspaper articles about O'Connor towards the end of the pipeline project. One article in particular in ''The Sunday Times'', 9 February 1902, by its editor, Thomas Walker, continuing a campaign against O'Connor by Walker's deceased predecessor Frederick Vosper, is thought to have contributed to his death. Accusing O'Connor of corruption, it read, in part: The government conducted an inquiry into the scheme and found no basis for the press accusations of corruption or misdemeanours on the part of O'Connor. Thomas Walker claimed vindication as the Royal Commission into the Coolgardie Water Scheme found "of the degree to which his 'Connor'simplicit trust had been misplaced n Thomas C. Hodgson, the Engineer in Charge of the Coolgardie Water Schemeref name=":1" />... unbalanced an already overstrained mind". It is claimed that local
Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...
Aboriginal people, unhappy with his destruction of the limestone bar across the Swan River at Point Walter, placed a curse on O'Connor. and that "... they sang him to make him crazy", and his suicide was the result. O'Connor took his own life on 10 March 1902 by shooting himself at the water's edge after riding his horse to Robb Jetty, south of Fremantle. Less than a year later, Forrest officially commissioned the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme.


Legacy

O'Connor's greatest legacies are the Fremantle Inner Harbour and the Goldfields Water supply Scheme, which ranks as one of Australia's greatest engineering achievements. The beach where O'Connor died was named after him and there is also a statue sculpted by Tony Jones, of him in the water there. The Monument to C. Y. O'Connor was built in 1911 and was designed by Pietro Porcelli. The novel ''The Drowner'' by Robert Drewe provides a fictionalised account of O'Connor and the building of the pipeline. On 7 December 1898, his daughter Eva married Sir George Julius at St John's Church, Fremantle. Julius was the first chairman of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) which later became the
CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...
. His daughter Kathleen O'Connor was a successful and respected painter. The C. Y. O'Connor College of TAFE in
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
bears his in name. The
Division of O'Connor The Division of O'Connor is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is one of Western Australia's three rural seats, and o ...
, named after O'Connor, is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Western Australia. Originally it encircled the area around Perth, from Geraldton on the Indian Ocean coast to Albany on the Southern Ocean coast. The electoral boundary was changed dramatically in 2008 (taking effect in 2010) and it now includes the Southern Wheatbelt and most of the Goldfields of Western Australia. A
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
statue of O'Connor by Pietro Porcelli stands in front of the Fremantle Port Authority buildings, commemorating O'Connor's achievements. O'Connor has also had a school named after him called O'Connor Primary School, in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. A song called 'C.Y. O'Connor' by a local Irish band based in Western Australian named The Healys was written in memory of the Irish Engineer.


Notes


References

* Ayris, Cyril. ''C.Y.O'Connor : a brief biography'' West Perth, W.A. : Cyril Ayris Freelance, 2004. * Bourke, Peter. ''Wettening Auralia'' Nedlands, W.A.: Auralia Press, 2015. * Drewe, Robert. ''The drowner'' Sydney: Picador, 1997. * Evans, A. G. ''C.Y. O'Connor : his life and legacy'' . Crawley, W. A.: University of Western Australia Press, 2001. * Hasluck, Alexandra. ''C.Y. O'Connor''. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1965. * Tauman, Merab. ''The chief: C.Y. O'Connor'' . Nedlands: University of Western Australia Press, 1978. * Webb, Martyn J. ''Death of a hero: the strange suicide of Charles Yelverton O'Connor''. Early days Vol. 11, part 1 (1995), pp. 81–111.


External links

*
Statue Named Perth's Best Public Art

The Golden Pipeline Project
A
National Trust of Australia The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...
project to commemorate the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, C. Y. 1843 births 1902 suicides 1902 deaths Engineers from County Westmeath Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Burials at Fremantle Cemetery Public servants of Western Australia Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Deaths by firearm in Western Australia Suicides by firearm in Australia Suicides in Western Australia Harbour engineers Fremantle Harbour Goldfields Water Supply Scheme 19th-century Irish engineers 19th-century Australian engineers Julius family Colony of Western Australia people