Augustus Poeppel (1839–1891) was a surveyor and explorer in Australia. He surveyed the borders between

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Early life

Augustus Poeppel was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany in 1839, the son of an architect. Emigrating with his family in 1849, he settled in South Australia.

Surveying career

Poeppel moved to Victoria to become a mining surveyor and architect. In 1878, after short periods in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, Poeppel joined the South Australian Lands Department and was soon appointed to the border surveys. He surveyed both

Poeppel Corner Poeppel Corner (known as Poeppel's Corner in Queensland) at latitude 26° S and longitude 138° E is a corner of state boundaries in Australia, where the state of Queensland meets South Australia and the Northern Territory The Northern T ...

(the point where the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australian borders meet) and Haddon Corner (where the Queensland and South Australian borders meet). During the Queensland-Northern Territory border survey, from the 142-mile post, he suffered from

trachoma Trachoma is an infectious disease caused by bacterium '' Chlamydia trachomatis''. The infection causes a roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. This roughening can lead to pain in the eyes, breakdown of the outer surface or cornea ...

and lost 13 kg in weight, forcing his withdrawal in July 1885. His health was broken and he later lost sight in one eye.

Later life

Poeppel retired to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

where he died in 1891 aged 52.

Legacy

Poeppel Corner (the point where the borders of Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory meet) was named after him and is listed in the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

. Haddon Corner is also listed on the Queensland Heritage Register. There is a monument to Poeppel across the road from the Birdsville Hotel in Birdsville, Queensland (). It was dedicated on 2 October 2003.

References

Attribution

This Wikipedia article was originally created fro
''"The Queensland heritage register"''
published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU license (accessed on 7 July 2014
archived
on 8 October 2014)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poeppel, Augustus Australian surveyors 19th-century Australian explorers 1839 births 1891 deaths German emigrants to Australia