Discovery & Exploration - Surveyors

Lionel Clive Ball was a prominent Australian geologist whose work contributed significantly to the understanding of Queensland’s geological landscape in the early 20th century. He was educated at the University of Sydney, and in 1900, Ball began his professional career by joining the Geological Survey Office of Queensland as an assistant geologist. This appointment marked the beginning of a long career in public geological service. His early work involved field surveys, mapping, and analysis essential to Queensland’s growing mining and resource industries.

Between 1931 and 1936, Ball served as a geological surveyor, and in 1932, he was appointed Chief Government Geologist, overseeing major geological research initiatives, exploration projects, and contributed expert knowledge critical to the development of Queensland's mineral resources.

Ball was also an active member of The Anthropological Society of Queensland, reflecting a broader interest in the human and cultural implications of natural science, with studies of Indigenous Australian sites.

Robert Dixon moved from New South Wales to Moreton Bay in 1839 and married Margaret Sibly. He was promoted to surveyor in charge of the Moreton Bay district in January 1840. However, he was suspended after a dispute with Lieutenant Gorman, the penal colony's commandant. 

Dixon was not reinstated, possibly due to his decision to independently publish a map of Moreton Bay, which may have been viewed as insubordinate or politically sensitive. While unofficial, the map’s precision and geographic detail were widely acknowledged. It continues to be valued historically and is preserved today in national and state libraries

After Moreton Bay opened to free settlers in 1842, Dixon sought to lease government buildings but was refused. He returned to New South Wales but found limited employment opportunities.

Robert Logan Jack born in Ayrshire, Scotland was educated at the University of Edinburgh and  joined the Geological Survey of Scotland in 1867

In 1876 Jack was appointed geological surveyor for Northern Queensland and arrived at Townville in 1877 that year he married Janet Simpson, they had one son, Robert Lockhart Jack (1878-1964) and in 1879 he became the second Queensland Government Geologist for the colony.

Jack resigned his Queensland government post in 1899 to explore the metalliferous deposits in the Szechuan Province of China for an English company and between 1901 and 1904 Jack practised as a consultant mining geologist in London, but returned to Australia in 1905 and worked as a consultant engineer in Western Australia and New South Wales.

Jack published a large number of detailed geological reports and maps, many of which are held in the State Library of Queensland's collections. His last major publication was the two-volume 'Northmost Australia' (London 1921). Jack died at Sydney on 6 November 1921.

Robert Lockhart Jack (son of Robert Logan Jack) was assistant government geologist of South Australia from 1912 and led an expedition to the Everhard and Musgrave Ranges in 1914. He joined BHP in 1931 and became chief geologist, retiring in 1948.

[Maps collections, catalogue separately]

Leopold Franz Landsberg [aka Francis] born at Gdansk emigrated to Australia in 1855 and by 1860 he was working as a surveyor in Queensland. He is credited with creating the first map of the new colony of Queensland, a copy of which is held by the State Library of Queensland. [National Library of Australia digitised item]

In a letter to Colin Archer held by the State Library, he describes some of the hardships of his life as a surveyor:

"I started for the Downs … I had to drive my own team … The roads were in a frightful state, as you may judge from my having been nearly 3 weeks on the road between Brisbane and Toowoomba. … At Dalrymple Creek about 15 miles from Warwick I was so successful as to capsize the dray into a deep waterhole, and had everything submerged under the water."

The Library also holds one of his diaries, dated 1861 in which he also records surveying work on the Darling Downs.

Harold Leahy (b. 1874) and his younger brother Alfred Leahy (b. 1879) were born in Shepparton, Victoria. Their father, Alfred Leahy Sr., also a surveyor, passed away in 1880.

Educated at Geelong Grammar, the brothers later moved to Western Australia, where they trained in surveying under their uncle, Edwin Turner. After completing their qualifications, Harold and Alfred joined another uncle, Tom Turner, who was working with the Government Survey Office in Queensland. They worked for the Queensland Government independently until 1921.

In 1912, while continuing their work across the state, the brothers purchased a house named Coongoon in Toowoomba for their mother, providing her a permanent home while they remained mobile in their profession.

Harold Leahy was also a gifted amateur photographer. His candid photographs provide a rare and invaluable visual record of life and work as a surveyor in early 20th-century Queensland. These images offer not only technical insights but also a deeply human perspective on a pivotal era in Queensland’s development.

Thomas Livingston Mitchell, arrived in Sydney with his family in 1827, and after the death of John Oxley in 1828, became Surveyor-General of NSW, being also responsible for the survey of roads and bridges. In 1830 he assumed sole responsibility for the Survey Department and set about to conduct the first proper baseline survey of the colony of New South Wales.

In 1831 he undertook his first major expedition to search for a river that reputedly flowed to the north-west, exploring parts of the Namoi, Gwydir and Barwon rivers, but returned to Sydney after two of his party were killed by Aboriginals.

The second and third expeditions were both aimed at fully determining the course of the Darling River, during which Mitchell discovered the rich lands of western Victoria, which he named Australia Felix in 1836 and the Grampians after a mountain range in Scotland.

In 1845 Mitchell mounted one final expedition, focused on exploring central Queensland and mapping a route from Sydney to Port Essington (Darwin) discovering valuable farming land in central-west Queensland. His second in command was a young Edmund Kennedy.

Harry Raff (1856 – ?) was born at Moraybank, New Farm, Brisbane, the son of Harriet Bourne and George Raff, a prominent merchant, sugar planter, and member of Queensland’s first Parliament.

At the age of five, Raff was sent to Scotland to be educated under the guidance of his uncle, D. James Macdonald, rector of Ayr Academy. He returned to Brisbane in 1871 and gained practical experience in station work and droving before qualifying as a licensed surveyor, a profession he pursued for 50 years.

In 1881, Raff joined General Fielding on an overland expedition to Point Parker, part of preliminary investigations for a proposed transcontinental railway to the Gulf of Carpentaria. He later undertook engineering work on the Western Australian goldfields.

For much of his professional life, Raff played a significant role in the subdivision of major estates, the surveying of Crown lands, and promoting the closer settlement of Queensland. His contributions are documented in numerous estate maps and survey records held by the State Library of Queensland, many of which bear the name Hamilton & Raff, his long-standing surveying partnership.

James Alexander Warner was a pioneer surveyor in Queensland. One of three surveyors - with Robert Dixon and Granville Stapylton - sent by Governor George Gipps to the Moreton Bay penal colony - to make a coastal survey and then to survey Brisbane and the surrounding districts in preparation for the closure of the penal colony and the opening of the area for free settlement in 1842.

Under the supervision of Robert Dixon he cleared the trees on the Herbert Taylor Range for a trigonometrical station, leaving a single tree as a surveyors' marker. The feature, for many years called One Tree Hill, was later named Mount Coot-tha.

Warner later went on to survey Ipswich and the Port Curtis area, Gladstone; his career in Queensland spanned 50 years.

Robert Mackenzie Watson was a British-born engineer who made significant contributions to the development of railway infrastructure in colonial Australia. Born in Devonshire, England, in 1822, he emigrated to Victoria, Australia, in 1854. Shortly after his arrival, he married Elizabeth Galsworthy.

Watson joined the rapidly expanding Victorian Railways, where he held several key positions over the years, including Senior Resident Engineer and ultimately Chief Engineer. His work was instrumental in shaping the early railway network in Victoria during a period of significant growth and modernization.

In January 1881, Watson undertook a trial survey for the Queensland Government to explore the feasibility of constructing a railway from the east coast to the Gulf of Carpentaria. This ambitious project demonstrated his expertise in railway planning and surveying across challenging and remote terrain.

Following his work in Queensland, he returned to his post at Victorian Railways, where he continued to serve until his death in 1891.

In 1883, Watson published a detailed account of his Queensland expedition titled:
Queensland Transcontinental Railway. Field Notes and Reports With Maps Showing Positions of Various Camps, a valuable document in the history of Australian railway exploration.

Captain Claudius Buchanan Whish was born in Uttar Pradesh, India, during the British colonial period. He served as an officer in the 14th (The King's) Regiment, a unit of the British Army. In 1862, Whish resigned his commission and emigrated to Queensland, Australia, with his wife Annie Ker and their young daughter, seeking new opportunities as a free settler.

As a former army officer, Whish was entitled to claim land and established "Oaklands", a sugar plantation on the Caboolture River. Although ambitious, the plantation eventually failed, a fate not uncommon in the volatile early sugar industry in Queensland.

In 1870, Whish was appointed to the Queensland Legislative Council, contributing to the colony’s governance. Following the failure of his estate, he adapted by taking up the role of Inspector of Road Surveys, reflecting his continued commitment to public service. He and his family settled at Eildon Hill, Windsor, where they named their home Arwin Tel.

His family maintained prominent connections in Queensland society. His eldest daughter, Annie 'Maude' Whish, married Reginald Heber Roe (1850–1926), the distinguished headmaster of Brisbane Boys Grammar School and later the first vice-chancellor of the University of Queensland.

Tragically, in February 1890, Claudius and Annie Whish perished when the RMS Quetta struck an uncharted rock in the Torres Strait and sank en route to Thursday Island, during a voyage to England.