Francis Peter MacCabe (1817 – 27 June 1897) was a surveyor in the colony of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

(later a state of Australia) in the 19th century. He surveyed and mapped the lower reaches of the Murrumbidgee, Darling and Murray Rivers in New South Wales.

Early life

MacCabe was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 1817. His parents were Dr James and Margaret (née Russell) MacCabe. He trained as a surveyor with the Ordnance Survey of Ireland and migrated to

in 1841 at the age of 24 on the ship ''Florentia''.

Surveying career

MacCabe worked with a team of assistants and convict labour surveying the rivers of the

Murray Darling Basin Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trus ...

between 1848 and 1852, including laying out the town of

Balranald Balranald is a town within the Local government in Australia, local government area of Balranald Shire, in the Murray (New South Wales), Murray region of far south-western New South Wales, Australia. The town of Balranald is located where the ...

in 1849. MacCabe's surveys of these rivers made use of communication with the local

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

, and recorded up to 6–8 native placenames per mile of river. MacCabe was working in the

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

area in early 1853 when he met Jane Osborne. They married at St Luke's church at Brownsville on 28 November 1855. They had 14 children. MacCabe left the Department of Surveyors in 1856 to manage a mine near the "Russell Vale" house that the couple had built when they married. In later life, the MacCabe family retired to

Bowral Bowral () is the largest town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. It is south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It is the main business and entertainment precinct of the Wingecarribee Shire and the Southern Highl ...

, where he died on 27 June 1897. MacCabe also explored and surveyed the Port Curtis district around what is now

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

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 ...

, at the request of Sir Thomas Mitchell. This survey took a total of 27 months from June 1853.

Later life

MacCabe died at his residence, "Eltham," Merrigang Street,

, New South Wales on Sunday morning 27 June 1897, following an illness of three years' duration. For the last nine months of his life, he resided in Bowral. He was buried in

Corrimal Corrimal is a suburb north of the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Corrimal's CBD is situated on the Princes Highway, and several streets adjacent to it. The main shopping centres are Lederer Corrimal and Corrimal Park Mall next ...

Cemetery at

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

on Monday 28 June 1897.

Legacy

MacCabe Corner is the point at which the borders of the states of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales meet, and was named after Francis MacCabe. On Sunday 22 June 2003 a memorial cairn to Francis MacCabe was unveiled in Friend Park in Gladstone by the Mayor of Gladstone Peter Corones. As part of the

Q150 Q150 was the sesquicentenary (150th anniversary) of the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Separation established the Colony of Queensland which became the State of Queensland in 1901 as part of the Federation of Australia ...

celebrations in Queensland in 2009, the

Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on th ...

placed a Q150 survey marker at the Calliope River Historical Village () to commemorate MacCabe and his surveys of Gladstone and surrounding areas. The

suburb of Russell Vale arose from the subdivision of his Russell Vale estate; the house itself was demolished in 1966.

Early life

Surveying career

Later life

Legacy

References

Further reading