Charles Yelverton O'Connor CMG (1843 - 1902)

Born 11 Jan 1843 in Castletown, County Meath, Ireland

Husband of Susan Letitia Ness — married 5 Mar 1874 in New Zealand

Descendants

Died 10 Mar 1902 at age 59 in Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia

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Australian Engineer

Biography

Charles O'Connor CMG is Notable.

Charles Yelverton O'Connor born at Gravelmount on 14 Jan. 1843, third and youngest son and fourth child of John O'Connor of Ardlonan and Gravelmount, co. Meath. (Parents Mary Elizabeth O'Keefe and John O'Connor.) ^[1]

Charles died in 1902. ^{[2] [3]}

On 5 March 1874, at Christchurch, New Zealand, he married Susan Laetitia Ness and they ultimately had eight children.^[4]

• FB00000830 Fremantle Burial

Charles Yelverton O'Connor, CMG (11 January 1843 – 10 March 1902) Irish engineer who is best known for his work in Western Australia, especially the construction of Fremantle Harbour, thought to be impossible, and the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme. O'Connor was born in Gravelmount House, a small country house in Castletown Kilpatrick, a parish located between Kells and Ardee in the north of County Meath in Ireland. He was the third and youngest son and fourth child of John O'Connor, a farmer and company secretary, and his wife Mary Elizabeth, née O'Keefe.[2] O'Connor was home-schooled by his aunt before being educated at Waterford Endowed School (also known as Bishop Foy's School ). In 1859 he was apprenticed to John Chaloner Smith as a railway engineer.[3] At the age of 21 he emigrated to New Zealand, and on 6 September 1866 was appointed assistant engineer for Canterbury Province under Edward Dobson.[4][5][6] His first task was the construction of the Otira Gorge section of the road over Arthur's Pass, so that the gold fields on the West Coast became easier to access.[6] After holding other positions, O'Connor became inspecting engineer for the mid-South Island. In 1873 he married Scottish-born Susan Laetitia Ness, and they had eight children, four girls (including Girl Guiding commissioner Bridget Yelverton Lee Steere and painter Kathleen O'Connor) and four boys while in New Zealand (their fifth child, Charles Goring Yelverton O'Connor, died aged 7 months in a home accident). In 1883 O'Connor was appointed Under-Secretary of Public Works in New Zealand, and in 1890 he was appointed Marine Engineer for the colony.

By 1891 O'Connor had much experience in harbour and dock construction when he resigned his position in April that year to become Engineer-in-Chief of Western Australia. His wife and children relocated with him to Australia. There he was responsible for the construction of Fremantle Harbour and the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme project, which supplied water to the Eastern Goldfields. He was the inaugural Engineer in Chief of the Public Works Department. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/oconnor-charles-yelverton-7874

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32722146?searchTerm=Corruption%20by%20contract

Sources

1. ↑ https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/O%27Connor,_Charles_Yelverton_(DNB12)
2. ↑ "Australia Deaths and Burials, 1816-1980," database, FamilySearch : 12 December 2014, Charles Yelverton O'Connor, 1843; citing reference 1902 p8; FHL microfilm 284,852.
3. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch : 13 December 2015, Charles Yelverton O'Connor, 1902; Burial, Fremantle, , Western Australia, Australia, Fremantle Cemetery; citing record ID 17659536, Find a Grave,
4. ↑ Merab Harris Tauman, 'O'Connor, Charles Yelverton (1843–1902)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University,
   published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed online 16 August 2017.

• Visit: Western Australia Divisions - Profile Tree

• ABC News: Five great Australians that we shouldn't have forgotten, 12 Aug 2017, accessed 16 Aug 2017

• 1902 'THE DEATH OF MR. C. Y. O'CONNOR.', The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1950), 13 March, p. 3., viewed 20 Oct 2017,

• 1902 'THE LATE MR. C. Y. O'CONNOR, C.M.G.', The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), 14 March, p. 3., viewed 20 Oct 2017,

• 1902 'WORRY AND OVERWORK.', The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), 14 March, p. 5., viewed 20 Oct 2017,

• http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/oconnor-charles-yelverton-7874

• *https://www.google.com/search?q=kalgoorlie+water+c+y+o%27connor&rlz=1C1NHXL_en-GBAU939AU939&oq=kalgoorlie+water+c+y+oconnor&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j33i21.51666j1j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8