Cameron's 1 Ton Survey Post
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Cameron's 1 Ton Survey Post is a heritage-listed
survey marker Survey markers, also called survey marks, survey monuments, or geodetic marks, are objects placed to mark key survey points on the Earth's surface. They are used in geodetic and land surveying. A '' benchmark'' is a type of survey marker th ...
at the Barwon River,
Mungindi Mungindi is a town and locality on the border of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, Australia. The town is within Moree Plains Shire in New South Wales. Within Queensland, the locality is split between the Shire of Balonne (the western part) ...
,
Shire of Balonne The Shire of Balonne is a Local government in Australia, local government area in South West Queensland, Australia, over from the state capital, Brisbane. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity since 1879. It is hea ...
,
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia. It was established in 1882. It was added to 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 ...
on 21 October 1992.


History

Cameron's 1 Ton Survey post was erected in about 1882 on the bank of the Barwon River and marks the official survey of the border between Queensland and
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
. The need for an official survey of the border had been recognised for many years but the work was not begun until mid 1879, when officers from both colonies met at the town of Barringun in New South Wales which was close to the border (Latitude 29°S). The surveyors were JB Cameron and J Conder, Trigonometrical Surveyors, from New South Wales and GC Watson, Surveying Commissioner of Crown Lands, Warrego District, from Queensland.
John Brewer Cameron John Brewer Cameron (1843–1897) was a Geodetic survey, geodetic surveyor in Australia. He is best known for his Queensland borders#Surveying the Queensland New South Wales border, survey of the border between Queensland and New South Wales. He ...
was born in Scotland and immigrated to
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
with his family in 1853. Noted for being athletic and adventurous, he travelled first to the
Victorian goldfields The Goldfields region of Victoria is a region commonly used but typically defined in both historical geography and tourism geography (in particular heritage tourism). The region is also known as the Victorian Golden Triangle. Description ...
and then to
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. Returning to Victoria, he joined a government geodetic surveying party working in the area near
Mount Baw Baw Mount Baw Baw () is a mountain summit on the Baw-Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range, located in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The name is from the Yarra-Yallou, Gunna-Kurnai people of Gippsland. It is of uncertain meaning, but possibly ...
. This experience decided him to take up a career in surveying. Following his training, he went to
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
as a surveyor in 1869, then returned in 1872 to Victoria where he specialised in surveying and geodesy. By 1879 he was a First Class surveyor in the Trigonometrical branch of the NSW Lands Department and a member of the Royal Geographical Society of New South Wales. In this year he undertook his most notable commission, to survey the border between Queensland and New South Wales. The survey work began at
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 ...
at Barringun, the division of work between the surveyors being described by Cameron in a letter to his uncle, Ewen Cameron:
Mr Watson is responsible for chainage while I am for the astronomical portion in finding true meridian, giving true bearing, setting off the chords, and finding latitude at every convenient site.
After observations at Barringun to determine the
latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...
, the team began surveying the border in a westerly direction to the intersection with the border with
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
at Longitude 141° E, known as Cameron Corner. This was a distance of over difficult country. Watson and Cameron did not get on and they had to contend first with flooding in both the Warrego and Paroo systems and then drought. Health problems and shortages of both food and water added to their problems. Watson withdrew at the post, but Cameron was determined to carry on. This section of the survey took 12 months and 15 days to complete and details of it were given in the first Annual Report of the NSW Department of Lands 1880 Appendix 1. In 1881 Cameron returned to Barringun to survey the easterly section to the Barwon River. This survey was easier with good water and grass available throughout. When the survey was complete Cameron commemorated the event by placing a wooden post weighing one ton and carved with his name on the river bank. It became known as Cameron's 1 Ton Survey Post. Although this was not the first border survey, it was the official survey. In 1883 Cameron moved to
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
where he carried out important surveys under the direction of Sir
William MacGregor Sir William MacGregor, (20 October 1846 – 3 July 1919)R. B. Joyce,', ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 5, Melbourne University Press, 1974, pp 158–160. Retrieved 29 September 2009 was a Scottish colonial administrator who was ...
. He died on 30 December 1897 in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
during a return trip to New Guinea and is buried in the
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, Queensland's lar ...
.


Description

Cameron's 1 Ton Survey Post is a timber post high and roughly square in section and is shaped into a pyramid at the top. It is carved with "J. CAMERON GS" running across on one face and "LAT 29 " on another.


Heritage listing

Cameron's 1 Ton Survey Post was 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 ...
on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. Cameron's 1 Ton Survey Post marks the first official survey of the border between what were then the separate colonies of New South Wales and Queensland when an accurate definition of the border was important for legal and economic reasons. It illustrates a remarkable feat of surveying in the nineteenth century and is a reminder of the extraordinarily difficult conditions under which many early surveyors worked. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. Cameron's 1 Ton Survey Post is rare as one of the largest timber survey posts in Australia and marks the termination of the survey by John Cameron, at Latitude 29°. The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history. As a commemoration of one of his most notable accomplishments, the survey post has an important association with the life and work of John Brewer Cameron, whose work contributed to the development of Australia.


References


Attribution


External links

{{Commons category-inline, Cameron's 1 Ton Survey Post Queensland Heritage Register Mungindi Survey marks in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register