Surveyor-General of Victoria

The Surveyor-General continues to be the primary government authority on surveying and the cadastre (land property boundaries and tenure).

In 1824, he assisted Oxley with the initial survey and the establishment of the site of Brisbane as part of an expedition to Moreton Bay.

Upon returning south, over he next twelve years, he worked on surveys of the districts in the Southern Highlands including Berrima and Goulburn.

It is also notable that between 1830 and 1836, Hoddle undertook surveys of the rural district now occupied by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

In effect, it would seem that La Trobe wanted a more compliant Surveyor-General who would follow his directions rather than question and speak out about what was wrong.

Clarke played a key role in positioning Singapore as the main port for the Malay states of Perak, Selangor and Sungei Ujong.

In the 1860s and 1870s, Darbyshire was a licensed surveyor undertaking township and rural surveys for Government and private practice.

He wrote the book Australia, From Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay; With Descriptions of the Natives, Their Manner and Customs; The Geology, Natural Productions, Fertility, and Resources of that Region; First Explored and Surveyed" which was published in 1845 after he had returned to England.

Hodgkinson returned to Australia, arriving in Melbourne in 1852 and joined the Survey Department as a draftsman and in 1855 was appointed as a District Surveyor by Surveyor-General Clarke.

[10] On 16 February 1841, Ligar was announced to be the next Surveyor-General of New Zealand, under proclamation issued by Queen Victoria and he took up the position in January 1842.

Soon after taking up office, as part of his approach to cost reduction, Ligar initially proposed to replace all government surveyors with contractors.

In September 1869, Ligar resigned and left Melbourne to retire overseas, living at various times in Germany, Morocco, Algeria and Spain, before finally settling in Texas, USA, where he had a cattle ranch until his death in February 1881.

He was awarded the Imperial Service Order in the 1981 Queen's Birthday Honours for service as Secretary of the Victorian Crown Lands Department [38] Middleton also served with the Royal Australian Survey Corps (RASVY) during World War 2, enlisting in July 1940 and discharged in 1945.

He commenced his service with the 3 Field Survey Company as a Sapper, and after some two years was commissioned in November 1943, with the rank of Lieutenant.

He was then posted to 2/1 Topographical Survey Company, where he continued his service and was promoted to Captain and finally discharged in November 1945.

He drew upon his skills and knowledge acquired in the army to advocate photogrammetry for mapping and surveying when he returned to civilian life at the Lands Department.

With the creation of the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) in 1988, he became one of the inaugural delegates representing Victoria, until he retired later in 1988.

Holmes' speech highlighted the quality of Victoria's cadastral system and the importance of the responsibilities of licensed surveyors.

[46] Holmes is acknowledged for his recovery in July 2007 of artefacts from the Burke and Wills expedition, which he donated to the State Library of Victoria.

Early in his professional career he engaged in computerization of land titling commencing with a secondment to the New South Wales Registrar-General’s Department Torrens Register Automation Project during 1973-76.

Edington has been recognized as one of Australia’s early leaders and experts in automation of land titling and computerization of digital cadastre.

From 1989, Eddington worked primarily as a consultant-expert advisor in land titling supporting international development assistance in Jamaica, Thailand, Zambia, Vietnam, China, Laos, Philippines, Federated States of Micronesia and Nigeria.

Eddington was also a Member of the Victorian Division of ISA for much of his career and received his 50 Year Membership Certificate at the 2015 ISV Surveying Industry Awards Gala Dinner.

With these reassignments, what was left under the Surveyor-General was the regulation of land surveying, including the secretariat of the then Surveyors Board of Victoria.

Parker also chaired Commission 1, Professional Standards and Practice, of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) for the 1998–2002 term.

His international experience is reported to have included Indonesia, China, Laos, El Salvador, Greece, Colombia, Costa Rica and Hong Kong.

[61][60] Bremner commenced his surveying training with the Department of Lands in 1963 and initially worked mainly in East Gippsland and studied at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).

Bremner remained an active Member of the Victorian Division of ISA which he joined in 1976, and then ISV for the rest of his life, passing away in 2018.

Prior to commencing as acting Surveyor-General in late 1998, Fennell was the Deputy Director, Valuation and Survey Services under Land Victoria.

Early in his tenure, he identified governance issues concerning the transfer of statutory responsibilities to other units of Land Victoria.