Gilbert Rotherdale McMinn

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Not to be confused with his brother, also a surveyor on the Overland Telegraph Line, William McMinn (who became overseer).

Gilbert McMinn
Surveyor McMinn
Born
Gilbert Rotherdale McMinn

1841
Newry, County Down, Ireland
Died18 October 1924(1924-10-18) (aged 82–83)
Melbourne, Victoria
Occupation(s)Surveyor, public servant

Gilbert Rotherdale McMinn CE, SM,

Overland Telegraph Line
. His middle name is occasionally spelt "Rutherdale".

Early life

McMinn was born in Newry, County Down. He was the son of a bank manager, Joseph McMinn (c. 1794 – 6 April 1874) and his wife Martha, née Hamill or Hammill (c. 1805 – 13 December 1861), who sailed with their eight children aboard the Albatross and arrived at Port Adelaide in September 1850. Upon leaving school Gilbert took up surveying.[1]

Career

Gilbert McMinn was one of ten surveyors[2] and a support crew of around 100 men, under Surveyor-General George Goyder and Dr. Robert Peel, who left Adelaide for Port Darwin shortly after Christmas 1868[3] to survey Palmerston and regions, and most of whom returned to Adelaide on 25 November 1869.[4]

McMinn worked as a surveyor on the Overland Telegraph Line. In February 1871 he was the first European to visit Simpsons Gap, which he identified as a better route for the line.[5]

He served in various senior public service positions in the Northern Territory. He was acting Administrator of the Northern Territory from March 1883 to March 1884.[6]

Later life and death

McMinn left Darwin for the east coast of Australia around 1890 and settled in

St. Kilda, Victoria on 18 October 1924 after a sudden heart failure at the age of 83.[7]

Recognition

Family

On 28 November 1874 in Port Darwin, McMinn married his first wife, Anna Gore. He married again on 15 November 1884 to Madge Fleetwood-Marsh. He had three sons and two daughters.[1]

Among their children were:[citation needed]

  • Mary McMinn, married Alfred Turner Fry of Kapunda on 21 July 1913[9] Alfred was a son of Rev. Alfred George Fry, who officiated at the wedding.
  • Gilbert Rotherdale McMinn, married Elizabeth Elsie Taylor of Middle Park, Victoria on 7 July 1915.[10] He was postmaster at Hawthorn West.
  • Walter Driffield McMinn (16 July 1892 – ?) born in Hawthorn was injured during World War I.
  • Beulah Rotherdale McMinn was engaged to Major Edmund Frank Lind,
    DADMS
    in 1918. She served as a nurse in France during WWI.

Two of McMinn's brothers also worked as surveyors on the Overland Telegraph Line:

  • William McMinn, who later became a well-known Adelaide architect.
  • Joseph McMinn (c.1846–9 February 1888), who married Charlotte Isabella "Chatty" Wells (1856– ) of Penola.[11][12]

Publications

  • G. R. McMinn. "Abridged report on the Northern Territory of South Australia, Melbourne 1902". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 1 August 2016.

References

  1. ^ a b "McMinn, Gilbert Rotherdale (1841–1924)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  2. ^ D. D. Daly; W. Harvey; S. King, jun.; R. R. Knuckey; G. G. McLachlan G. R. McMinn; W. W. Mills; A. J. Mitchell; A. H. Smith; E. M. Smith; J. M. Thomas; A. T. Woods
  3. South Australian Chronicle And Weekly Mail
    . Vol. XI, no. 542. South Australia. 26 December 1868. p. 8. Retrieved 7 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. Adelaide Observer
    . Vol. XXVII, no. 1503. South Australia. 23 July 1870. p. 6. Retrieved 7 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "The Overland Telegraph". South Australian Register. Vol. XXXVI, no. 7622. South Australia. 20 April 1871. p. 5. Retrieved 3 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Appointment". Northern Territory Times and Gazette (Darwin, NT : 1873 - 1927). Darwin, NT: National Library of Australia. 31 March 1883. p. 1. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  7. ^ "Family Notices". The Argus (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 20 October 1924. p. 1. Retrieved 21 June 2020 – via Trove.
  8. ^ "NT Place Names Register: Rothdale Road". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  9. The Register (Adelaide)
    . South Australia. 30 August 1913. p. 14. Retrieved 21 June 2020 – via Trove.
  10. ^ "Family Notices". The Age. Victoria, Australia. 21 August 1915. p. 5. Retrieved 21 June 2020 – via Trove.
  11. ^ Geoffrey C. Bishop (2015). "Architects of South Australia: McMinn, William". Architecture Museum, University of South Australia. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Personal". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. LXI, no. 18, 727. South Australia. 21 October 1918. p. 6. Retrieved 20 May 2019 – via National Library of Australia.

Further reading

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