P000066 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

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 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 1993-10-20 human Gavan McCarthy; Annette Alafaci updated 2026-01-07 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000066b.htm person Adams Philip Francis AACR2 1828 22 June 1901 Place of Birth Mildenhall, Suffolk, England Place of Death Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Surveyor Viticulturist 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. When he was District Surveyor at Cooma in 1884, he proposed that the snow-melt waters of the Snowy River could be diverted across the Great Dividing Range into the Murrumbidgee, and provide a permanent system of irrigation. An idea that was later a seed for the Snowy Mountains Scheme.

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.

1848 1851 Career position - Land Surveyor in Ireland 1851 1853 Career position - Surveyor in Canada and USA 1853 1853 Career position - Prospector (unsuccessful) in the California goldfields, USA 1854 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 1859 Life event - Married Harriet Burnet in Newcastle, NSW 1862 1864 Career position - Acting Deputy-Surveyor-General for NSW 1864 1864 Career position - Member, Royal Society of New South Wales 1864 1868 Career position - Deputy Surveyor-General for NSW 1865 1865 Career position - Reported on the need to change the existing haphazard survey system to a trigonometrical survey system 1867 1867 Career position - Trigonometrical survey commenced 1868 1887 Career position - Surveyor-General for NSW 1870 1870 Career position - Manager of the trigonometric survey 1874 1874 Career position - Official Observer of the transit of Venus in Woodford, NSW 1882 1882 Career position - Official Observer of the transit of Venus at Lord Howe Island 1886 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 New South Wales Surveyor General [I], Colony of New South Wales (1788 - 1887)

Surveyor General, 1868 - 1887

Wikidata

 Adams, Philip Francis (1828-1901)

Trove

 'Adams, Philip Francis', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Adams, Philip Francis Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Book Section: Adams, Philip Francis (1828-1901), surveyor, viticulturist and astronomer McIntyre, Joanna Adams, Philip Francis (1828-1901), surveyor, viticulturist and astronomer Melbourne Melbourne University Press 1969 Australian dictionary of biography, volume 3: 1851 - 1890 A-C Douglas Pike 16 Book: Sails to Satelites: the Surveyors General of NSW (1786-2007) Kass, Terry Sails to Satelites: the Surveyors General of NSW (1786-2007) Bathurst, N.S.W. New South Wales Department of Lands 2008 Book: Australian inventions and innovations Ingpen, Robert Australian inventions and innovations Rigby Publishers Limited 1982