Adams, Philip Francis (1828 - 1901)

Summary

Philip Adams worked for the New South Wales (NSW) land surveyors department, and was Surveyor-general from 1868-1887. During this time, Adams initiated the department's shift to trigonometrical surveying in 1867 and took charge of it from 1870. He was also an avid wine grower, first establishing a successful vineyard in Ettamogah (1857c) and then again in 1888 after he retired. He gained a good reputation in the wine industry and spent much of his retirement attending conferences for wine-growers and fruit-growers, judging wine shows, and writing many articles on the subject. Adams was a keen amateur astronomer and was appointed one of the official observers of the transit of Venus in 1874 and 1882. Adams was heavily involved in local affairs, participating in the Public School Board and in many charities.

Details

Born in England, Philip Adams moved to Ireland with his family where he was educated mainly at the Belfast Academical and Collegiate Institution. In 1848 he was appointed land surveyor and after three years emigrated to Canada and then the United States. He returned to Canada to try and make his fortunes on the goldfields, but was unsuccessful. He then moved to Sydney in 1854. Adams quickly gained employment as a district surveyor for the NSW government. He convinced them to give up on their time-consuming, haphazard surveying techniques and introduced trigonometrical surveying. This saw Philip Adams rise through the ranks and eventually be appointed Surveyor-general in 1868. During his reign, he introduced competitive examinations for surveyors and advised select committees. Adams retired in 1888 to pursue his love of wine-making, a job he did successfully and was highly respected in the industry.

Chronology

1848 - 1851

Career position - Land Surveyor in Ireland

1851 - 1853

Career position - Surveyor in Canada and USA

1853

Career position - Prospector (unsuccessful) in the California goldfields, USA

1854

Life event - Migrated to Australia (Sydney)

1854 - 1859

Career position - District Surveyor in Maitland, New South Wales (NSW)

1857 - 1862

Career position - District Surveyor in the southern district of NSW

1859

Life event - Married Harriet Burnet in Newcastle, NSW

1862 - 1864

Career position - Acting Deputy-Surveyor-General for NSW

1864

Career position - Member of the Royal Society of New South Wales

1864 - 1868

Career position - Deputy Surveyor-General for NSW

1865

Career position - Reported on the need to change the existing haphazard survey system to a trigonometrical survey system

1867

Career position - Trigonometrical survey commenced

1868 - 1887

Career position - Surveyor-General for NSW

1870

Career position - Manager of the trigonometric survey

1874

Career position - Official Observer of the transit of Venus in Woodford, NSW

1882

Career position - Official Observer of the transit of Venus at Lord Howe Island

1886

Career position - Member of the New South Wales Commission for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition

1887 - 1901

Career position - Retired to establish a vineyard in Casula, NSW

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Kass, Terry, Sails to Satelites: the Surveyors General of NSW (1786-2007) (Bathurst, N.S.W.: New South Wales Department of Lands, 2008), 484 pp. Details

Book Sections

• McIntyre, Joanna, 'Adams, Philip Francis (1828-1901), surveyor, viticulturist and astronomer' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Douglas Pike, ed., vol. 3 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1969), p. 16. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030014b.htm. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7183559. Details
• 'Adams, Philip Francis (1828-1901)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1468155. Details