He was born at Redhill, South Australia to Henry Darwin, a native-born bank manager, and his wife Jessie Louise Cleta, née Gmeiner.
Darwin was educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide and the University of Melbourne, receiving his BCE in 1920, and subsequently the MCE.
Service in the Australian military during World War I interrupted his university studies; he served with the 10th Field Company Engineers, AIF, in France and Belgium from 1916 as a sapper.
[citation needed] In addition to his other duties, during the 1940s Darwin was a part-time Lecturer in Roads and Street at the University of Melbourne.
[5] He was appointed to the Tourist Development Authority in 1958, from which he retired in June 1962, although he continued to assist the Australian Road Research Board.