Hyman Herman (August 16, 1875 – June 7, 1962) was an Australian geologist and engineer, and was described as the 'father of Yallourn'. He was director of the Victorian Department of Mines and chair of the Government Brown Coal Advisory Committee. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Victorian State Electricity Commission taking a role as engineer for brown coal. Herman was born at Sandhurst (

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

) on 16 August 1875 to Polish father Solomon Herman from Konin, British mother Elizabeth, née Oxlake who migrated to Australia in 1864. He married Florence Leslie Ramsay Salmon 2 April 1902, had three daughters and died on 7 June 1962. As chair of the Government Brown Coal Advisory Committee, which reported in September 1917, he recommended the establishment of an Electricity Commission to develop the brown coal reserves and construct a power station and transmission lines. In December 1918, a Bill was passed establishing the

State Electricity Commission of Victoria The State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SEC, SECV or ECV) is a government-owned electricity company in Victoria, Australia. Originally established to generate electricity from the state's reserves of brown coal, the SEC gradually monopoli ...

Education

Gravel Hill State School (under scholarships), Sandhurst Corporate High School, Scotch College 1890, D.Sc. (Melbourne, 1924) he submitted 'The Structure of the Bendigo goldfields',

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

engineering 1891 -1896. B.C.E., 1896

Employment

* Geological Survey, Victorian Department of Mines and Water Supply 1895 * acting director of the Geological Survey 1900 * assistant manager Mt Bischoff Tin Mining Co. Waratah. * private practice Queen Street Melbourne 1907 * company director, consultant manager, '' Australian Mining Standard'' correspondent * director of the Victorian Geological Survey 1912 * chairman of advisory committee on coal and electricity 1917 * engineer SEC brown coal research and briquetting 1920 * advisor to South Australian government on brown coal-mining 1926

Societies

He was a member of the

Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers 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. History The Institute had its genesis in 1893 with ...

and its president for the year 1914

Commissions and conferences

* Australian Power Survey 1928 * World Power Conference in Washington 1936 * royal commission on Western Australian coal industry 1931, 1933 * consultant engineer S.E.C. 1933–48Hyman Herman – Records State Electricity Commission of Victoria Archives 1907 – 1940 Information and records in the official SEC files c1907-40
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Publications

* ''Brown Coal'' : with special reference to the State of Victoria, Commonwealth of Australia, State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Melbourne, 1952 * ''Utilization of brown coal in Victoria'' Melb. : S.E.C.? * Report of the Advisory Committee on Brown Coal. Victoria. Advisory Committee on Brown Coal. Melbourne : Government Printer 1917 for a photographic Portrait se
Museum Victoria

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herman, Hyman 1875 births 1962 deaths Australian mining engineers Australian geologists People from Bendigo Australian people of Polish descent University of Melbourne alumni Australian people of British descent