biography
| name: |
O'Connor, Charles Yelverton
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| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1843–1902)
|
| biography:
| Engineer, born in Ireland. He served as an engineer's apprentice and then went to New Zealand (1865–91), where he became district engineer for Canterbury province (1874–83), under-secretary for public works (1883–90), and marine engineer for the colony (1890–1). Appointed engineer-in-chief for Western Australia (1891–1902), he was responsible for the construction of Fremantle Harbour and the ambitious Coolgardie Water Supply Scheme (1898–1903), a pipeline designed to carry water 525 km/326 mi to the Western Australian goldfields. Depressed by constant ridicule over the scheme, he took his own life. The pipeline proved successful, was expanded, and is still in use today. |
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