William Chaffey
William Benjamin Chaffey,
Life
Chaffey was born in
The Chaffey brothers developed irrigation colonies, named by them Etiwanda and Ontario, on the Cucamonga Plain in the early 1880s.[1] The brothers had bought land and water-rights at a low price and resold 10 acre (4 ha) blocks to settlers; a non-profit mutual irrigation company distributed water.[1]After some discussions in the Victorian parliament, the Chaffey brothers commenced development on 250,000 acres (101,170 ha) of land near Mildura. They also began works on 250,000 acres (1,000 km2) around Renmark, South Australia after an offer by the premier of South Australia, Sir John Downer. William remained in Mildura and the Renmark area was managed by a younger brother, Charles F. Chaffey, who came from California. Although the new towns were well planned, there was some settler dissatisfaction about the loss of water from seepage. Disputes about the Chaffey's practices were discussed in the Victorian parliament. A collapse of the Melbourne land boom also contributed to problems faced by the Chaffeys. After a government report, the Mildura Irrigation Trust took over from the Mildura Irrigation Co. in September 1895.[1]
On 10 December 1895, their Australian projects went
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Westcott, Peter (1979). "Chaffey, William Benjamin (1876 - 1937)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University / Melbourne University Press. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
- ^ a b Serle, Percival (1949). "Chaffey, William Benjamin". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
- ^ "A Pioneer Irrigationist". The Observer. Adelaide. 12 June 1926. p. 52. Retrieved 18 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.