Person

Thompson, George Thomas (1895 - 1987)

OBE

Born
15 December 1895
Ascot Vale, Victoria, Australia
Died
10 October 1987
Camberwell, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Civil engineer, Conservationist and Surveyor

Summary

George Thompson OBE LS MIEAust, played a central role in major conservation issues in Victoria from the 1930s. As surveyor and civil engineer for the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission he observed the degraded water systems and land erosion resulting from land clearance, poor agricultural practices, mining and intervention in rivers. As a consequence, conservation and remedial work became his principal professional focus in life. Lobbying by Thompson and others resulted in Victoria's Soil Conservation Act of 1940. He held executive positions in the new Soil Conservation Board and was Chairman of the Soil Conservation Authority from 1950 to 1961.

Thompson was also involved in community conservation groups, including the Natural Resources Conservation League of Victoria and the Save our Bushlands Action Committee, which successfully opposed Government plans to subdivide the Little Desert in western Victoria into farms. He was also involved in the formation of the Conservation Council of Victoria in 1969.

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Details

Chronology

1914 - 1921
Career position - Pupilage, Saxil Tuxen, Surveyor and Town Planner. [Also part of time in AIF]
1916 - 1919
Military service - First World War. Gunner, 8th Field Artillery Brigade, Australian Imperial Forces, France
1920
Career event - Licensed Land Surveyor
1921 - 1923
Career position - Surveyor, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission [In charge of all surveys of Red Cliffs Estate, under Resident engineer C.M.B. Neylon, and Supervising engineer A. S. Kenyon]
1923 - 1930
Career position - Surveyor, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission [Topographical surveys of rivers, design reiver improvement works]
1929
Career event - Granted Certificate of Qualification as Municipal Surveyor (CE), Local Government Act 1903 VIC
1930
Career event - Granted Certificate as Engineer of Water Supply, Water Act 1890 VIC
c. 1930
Career event - Member, Victorian Institute of Surveyors
1935 - 1941
Career position - Councillor, Victorian Institute of Surveyors
1935 - 1946
Career position - Executive Engineer, Rivers and Streams Branch, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria [Development and control of catchments for regulating run-off and control of erosion and siltation of reservoirs. In charge of experimental catchment at Teddington, St.Arnauld]
1940 - 1945
Military service - Lieutenant, Intelligence Officer, Volunteer Defence Corp (VDC) Battalion
1943 - 1946
Career position - Member (part-time) and Deputy Chairman, Soil Conservation Board [Working with A.S. Kenyon, L.R. East, H.G. Strom, E.J. Lupson]
1945
Career event - Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
1947 - 1950
Career position - Executive Officer, Soil Conservation Board, Victoria
1950 - 1961
Career position - Chairman, Soil Conservation Authority
1953 - 1954
Career position - President, Natural Resources Conservation League of Victoria
1961
Life event - Retired
1962 - 1972
Career position - Director, Natural Resources Conservation League of Victoria
c. 1964
Life event - Retired
1965
Award - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) - Director of the Natural Resources League
1968
Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia [Former Associate Members were designated Members on this date.]
1972 - 1973
Career position - President, Natural Resources Conservation League of Victoria

Related Corporate Bodies

Related People

Archival resources

Private hands (Engineering Heritage Victoria)

  • Membership application forms and correspondence, ca.1935-1978 [microfiche], c. 1935 - c. 1978; Institution of Engineers, Australia. Victoria Division; Private hands (Engineering Heritage Victoria). Details

Published resources

Books

  • Robin, Libby, Building a Forest Conscience: an Historical Portrait of the Natural Resources Conservation League of Victoria (NRCL) (Melbourne: Natural Resources Conservation League of Victoria, 1991), 155 pp. Details

Book Sections

Resources

See also

Helen Cohn; Ken McInnes

Last modified: 31 October 2023

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