Arthur James Hillman

Last updated

Arthur James Hillman
Arthur Hillman - AWM.jpg
Born19 July 1884
Perth
Died27 April 1922
Guildford, Western Australia
NationalityAustralian
OccupationCivil engineer

Arthur James Hillman was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1884. Arthur Hillman was a civil engineer who worked for the Public Works Department of Western Australia. He served with the Australian Army during World War I and spent most of his service tunnelling under the front line trenches in France. When he returned to Perth after the war, he resumed working for the Public Works Department. Hillman worked on water supply projects including being executive engineer on the Lower Bickley Brook Reservoir. Hillman died in 1922 as a result of an ongoing medical issue, which was caused by being gassed during WWI.

Contents

Family

Arthur Hillman was the son of banker and volunteer soldier Major Alfred James Hillman (1841–1884) and his wife Elizabeth Deborah Hillman née Brockman.

Hillman was the grandson of the pioneering surveyor, Alfred Hillman (1807–1883), whose work included exploring and surveying Albany Highway. [1] Alfred had come to the Swan River Colony in 1831 as a Colonial Draftsman.

Early years

Hillman attended Perth Boys School and later Melbourne Church of England Grammar School. In 1896, he was awarded the Witherby Scholarship at Melbourne Grammar. He became the dux of Melbourne Grammar after he enrolled in 1901.

Hillman commenced work with the Public Works Department as an engineering cadet in 1902, and received training at the Fremantle Technical College followed by Melbourne University. On 24 January 1911, he married Helene Elizabeth Merry at All Saints Church in Belmont, New South Wales.

In 1913, Hillman worked as a resident engineer at Geraldton Water Supply. [2] In 1914, he was admitted into the Institution of Civil Engineers as an associate member. [3]

World War I

In 1915, when applying for a commission, Hillman was employed as an assistant engineer in the Perth District Water Supply Department. In May 1916, he was appointed as Captain of His Majesty's Australian Transport (HMAT) A69 Warilda with 1,118 members of the 4th, 5th and 6th Tunneling Companies on board. They began their journey from Fremantle to Plymouth, England on 1 June 1916.

The group arrived in Plymouth on 8 July 1916, where the men underwent further training. Hillman, along with some of the men on board Warilda, travelled to France in August 1916. Hillman was taken on as strength of the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company, Supernumerary to Establishment, on 25 September 1916. He was then taken on as strength of the 3rd Tunnelling Company on 1 June 1917. During their time on the Western Front, the 3rd Tunnelling Company was allocated to the British First Army. They were employed by the British in the Wytschaete, Fromelles, Laventie, Fauquissart, Lens, Loos, Arras, Givenchy, Vermelles and Le Tilleloy sectors.

Hillman was marched out of the 3rd Tunneling Company on 6 February 1919, for repatriation to Australia. However, on 13 February 1919, he was given command of the 2nd Tunneling Company. Two weeks later, on 21 February 1919, he marched out to England for demobilization, returning to Australia on Sardinia, which departed from London on 19 April 1919.

On 3 June 1918, the award of the Military Cross to Captain Arthur James Hillman for gallant and distinguished service in the field was published in the London Gazette.

Post-war

Hillman was admitted to the convocation of the University of Western Australia by the Senate on 20 October 1919. [4]

He was a strong supporter of the Institution of Engineers, being elected to the Perth Division Committee in 1921, and was a founding associate member of the Western Australia Institution of Engineers.

In 1921, he was the executive engineer for the construction of the Lower Bickley Brook Reservoir. One year later, he started working as the assistant engineer in the Mount Hawthorn Reservoir.

Hillman died at Guildford on 27 April 1922, after a short illness that was associated with being gassed when in service. At the time of his death, he was working as the assistant engineer in the Metropolitan Water Supply, the vice president of the Perth Division in the Institution of Engineers, the second in command in the 13th Double Field Company of Engineers, and a councillor at the Guildford Municipal Council. He was survived by his wife and six young children including Robert Hillman, who later became the Director of Engineering at the Public Works Department. [5]

Related Research Articles

C. Y. OConnor

Charles Yelverton O'Connor,, was an 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.

Wallace Bickley

Wallace Alexander Bickley was an early settler in the Swan River Colony of Western Australia, who became a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council.

Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsibility for tram and ferry operations that it assumed and later relinquished. Its freight operations were privatised in December 2000 with the remaining passenger operations transferred to the Public Transport Authority in July 2003.

Bickley, Western Australia Suburb of Perth, Western Australia

Bickley is a suburb located within the City of Kalamunda, in Perth, Western Australia.

The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) was a public utility board in Melbourne, Australia, set up in 1891 to provide water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment functions for the city. In 1992, the MMBW was merged with a number of smaller urban water authorities to form Melbourne Water. MMBW was abolished in 1992.

HMAT Warilda

HMAT Warilda was a 7713-ton vessel, built by William Beardmore and Company in Glasgow as the SS Warilda for the Adelaide Steamship Company. She was designed for the East-West Australian coastal service, but following the start of the First World War, she was converted into a troopship and later, in 1916, she was converted into a hospital ship.

Bickley Pumpback Dam, known also as the Lower Bickley Brook reservoir is located in Perth, Western Australia.

John F. Gavin, born as John Francis Henry Gavin was an Australian film director, who was one of the early filmmakers of the 1910s. He is best known for making films about bushrangers such as Captain Thunderbolt, Captain Moonlite, Ben Hall and Frank Gardiner. He was known by the nickname "Jack" and worked in collaboration with his wife Agnes, who wrote many of his films, most of which have not survived.

James Gardiner (Australian politician)

James Gardiner was an Australian politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1901 to 1904 and from 1914 to 1921. He served as colonial treasurer under two premiers, Walter James and Henry Lefroy. Gardiner was also the inaugural state leader of the Country Party from 1914 to 1915, and briefly served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from March to June 1917.

Russell Dumas

Sir Russell John Dumas KBE, CMG was a public servant and engineer who led several large works projects in Western Australia.

Henry Saunders (politician) Australian politician

Henry John Saunders was an English-born Australian politician.

Sydney Dalrymple

Captain Sydney Dalrymple, was an Australian First World War flying ace, credited with five aerial victories while serving in the British Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force.

OShannassy Reservoir Dam in McMahons Creek, Victoria

The O'Shannassy Reservoir is an Australian man-made water supply dammed reservoir. The 3.1-gigalitre water store across the O'Shannassy River is located near the locality of McMahons Creek, approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of Melbourne, Victoria. The dam that creates the impoundment is called the O'Shannassy Dam.

Nookawarra Station

Nookawarra Station is a pastoral lease and sheep station located in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The station occupies an area of approximately 604,000 acres (244,430 ha).

Byro Station

Byro Station is a pastoral lease and sheep station that also carries cattle, located in the Mid West region of Western Australia.

The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) provides services to professionals engaged in all facets of the global minerals sector and is based in Carlton, Victoria, Australia.

The Australian Mining Corps was a specialist military mining unit of the Royal Australian Engineers during World War I.

For a more comprehensive treatment with full quotes of newspaper articles refer Wikibooks chapter on VIN Geraldton

Alfred Stephen Kenyon, generally known as A. S. Kenyon or Stephen Kenyon was an Australian civil engineer and polymath.

Harold Arthur Charles Daffen was an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1947 to 1950, representing Central Province.

References

Source material

Additional sources

  1. ↑ "THE FIRST EXPLORERS OF THE WHEAT BELT". The West Australian . XXIX (3, 572). Western Australia. 24 September 1913. p. 5. Retrieved 3 October 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ "Advertising". Geraldton Guardian . VII (982). Western Australia. 3 July 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 3 October 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "PERSONAL". The West Australian . XXX (3, 734). Western Australia. 3 April 1914. p. 6. Retrieved 3 October 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "THE UNIVERSITY". The West Australian . XXXV (5, 476). Western Australia. 25 October 1919. p. 7. Retrieved 3 October 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "THE LATE CAPTAIN HILLMAN, M.C." Sunday Times (Perth) (1272). Western Australia. 30 April 1922. p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2020– via National Library of Australia.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.