George Woodroffe Goyder
George
Woodroffe Goyder [b. 24 Jun 1826 Liverpool LAN, d 2 Nov
1898 Warrakilla nr Biggs Flat SA] emigrated to
New South Wales at the age of twenty-two and shortly after
relocated to South Australia in 1851 where his talent as
a surveyor was quickly recognised with his appointment
in 1853 to the Colonial Engineers Office and in 1861 he
was appointed Surveyor-General.
His legacy for South Australia remains Goyders Line, the
isohyet that delineates land suitable for pastoral purposes
from that appropriate, due to an average rainfall of twelve
inches or greater per year, for arable farming. It is not
widely known but Goyder in fact devised a similar line
in the Northern Territory. However, his impact on the colony
of South Australia and its Northern Territory was much
greater than this.
Goyder encouraged the development of the pastoral industry
and surveyed the mines being established in the Flinders
Ranges. He conducted a number of significant expeditions
into the remote areas of South Australia. Goyder planned
many townships in the mid-north of South Australia. He
planned, sited and began the initial development of Darwin,
then known as Palmerston, and other townships in the Northern
Territory. Many features including Frances and Fannie Bays*
were named by Goyder and his work is recalled today with
his own name attached to roads, a civic square, a local
government authority, an electorate, a fish, a lagoon,
a range of hills, a railway siding, a creek and a river
in both South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Goyder married Frances Mary Smith, the daughter of John
Smith, at Christ Church North Adelaide on 10 Dec 1851.
She died in England on 8 Apr 1870 from an overdose, probably
as the result of postnatal depression, leaving George and
nine children. On 20 Nov 1871 at St Luke Adelaide, George
married Frances' sister Ellen Priscilla Smith with whom
he had another son and twin daughters.
*Goyder named Fannie Bay after Fanny Carandini, a popular
opera singer of the time. In 1868 the Carandinis held concerts
in Adelaide just a month before Goyder, and his party set
out in the Moonta to found Palmerston. Frances
Bay was named for Goyder’s wife. Tour operators in
Darwin would have you believe that Frances Bay was named
only
after
Goyder’s wife, Frances Mary nee Smith became upset
at the recognition of Fanny Carandini! Some will even suggest
that Goyder and Fanny Carandini had some liaison in Palmerston
but there is no evidence to suggest that Goyder and Fanny
ever met!
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