Biographical entry Cullen, Edward Alexander Ernest (1861 - 1950)

Summary

Edward Alexander E. Cullen worked as a surveyor and engineer for the Queensland Government for over 40 years. Many of his surveys were to areas never charted before and included the first ever survey of the Norman River (1884) and the discovery of Port Musgrave (1887). When working as chief engineer for the Department of Harbours and Rivers, he oversaw the expansion of the Brisbane River to a fourteen-mile useable shipping channel. His 1922 paper Improvement of the Brisbane River won the highly respected Telford Premium Award from Institution of Civil Engineers of UK. The same Institute which awarded Cullen full membership in 1902. In 1932 he was appointed a Companion of the Imperial Service Order (ISO).

Details

Events

1875 - c. 1880

Career position - Civil Assistant to the Royal Navy Survey of the Queensland Coast

c. 1880 - 1883

Career position - Assistant to the Government Hydraulic Engineer

1884

Career position - Norman River survey

1884 - 1893

Career position - Nautical Surveyor for the Department of Harbours and Rivers

1887

Career position - Port Musgrave survey

1890 - 1891

Career position - Moreton Bay survey

1893 - c. 1900

Career position - Principal Engineer at Department of Marine in Queensland

1895 - 1901

Career position - Associate member of the Institute of Civil Engineers, London

1900

Career position - Harbours and water power fact-finding trip to Europe and USA

c. 1901 - 1931

Career position - Chief Engineer at the Department of Harbours and Rivers in Queensland

1902 -

Career position - Full member of the Institute of Civil Engineers, London

December 1931

Life event - Retired

1932

Award - Companion of the Imperial Service Order

Published resources

Book Sections

• McKay, Gordon R., 'Cullen, Edward Alexander Ernest (1861-1950)', in Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 8, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1981, pp. 165-166. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080184b.htm. Details

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Cullen, Edward Alexander Ernest', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1470086. Details