Alan Gordon Gutteridge (4 February 1892 – February 1942) was an Australian

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

and a founder of Gutteridge Haskins & Davey (now known as the

GHD Group GHD Group Pty Ltd (formerly known as Gutteridge Haskins & Davey) is a global employee-owned multinational technical professional services firm providing advisory, architecture and design, buildings, digital, energy and resources, environmental ...

). He was based in Melbourne.

Early life

Gordon Gutteridge was born in

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk River, North Esk and South Esk River, South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River, Tasmania, Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, the Launc ...

. He was the son of a medical doctor, and one of five children. His brother Hal was an engineer and later became mayor of the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Gordon attended

Melbourne Grammar School Melbourne Grammar School is an Australian private school, private Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Day school, day and boarding school. It comprises a co-educational preparatory school from Prep to Year 6 and a middle school and senior s ...

and later studied engineering at

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state of Victoria. Its ...

War service

Gutteridge was on holiday in the US at the declaration of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He immediately went to

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

, Canada, and enlisted in the Canadian army the day after war was declared. During World War 1, Gutteridge served at the

battles of Ypres The Battle of Ypres was a series of engagements during the First World War, near the Belgian city of Ypres, between the German and the Allied armies (Belgian, French and British colonial forces). During the five engagements, casualties may have su ...

and the Somme. He was seriously wounded and taken prisoner. He made two unsuccessful escape attempts from the Altdamm prisoner-of-war camp.

Career

At the end of the war he returned to Canada for demobilisation, then back 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 ...

to finish his engineering studies. He won a Rockefeller scholarship and completed his master's degree at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Gutteridge was later appointed director of the Commonwealth Division of Public Health Engineering. In 1928 he resigned from that position and commenced private practice in Melbourne. He specialised in water and sewerage schemes, especially in rural

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, but also designed other facilities such as abattoirs and saleyards. In 1929, Gordon Gutteridge was elected a member of the Kew City Council, and was mayor of Kew in 1933–34. The practice of Gordon Gutteridge merged with that of Gerald Haskins and

Geoffrey Davey Geoffrey Innes Davey, KCGS, CBE (27 November 1906 – 12 February 1975) was an Australian civil engineer and priest. Davey was born at Double Bay, Sydney to English-born law clerk Joseph Innes Davey and his wife, Caroline (née Hurley). He ...

to form GHD in 1939. After the outbreak of World War 2, Gutteridge and his firm became involved in the design and construction of military camps and training schools. He travelled widely to investigate the state of the art in these facilities in the UK, the US and Canada. Gutteridge had always suffered poor health and the effects of his World War 1 injuries never left him. He collapsed at his desk in February 1942 and did not recover.

Early life

War service

Career

References

Further reading