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John Brewer Cameron (1843–1897) was a geodetic surveyor in Australia. He is best known for his survey of the border 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 ...
and
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 ...
. He also surveyed part of the border between
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
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 ...
.


Early life

John Brewer Cameron was born on 31 December 1843 in
Kilmonivaig Kilmonivaig () is a small village, situated close to the southeast end of Loch Lochy in Spean Bridge, Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. Fort William lies approximately 15 miles southwest of K ...
,
Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...
, Scotland.


Border between Queensland and New South Wales

Between 1879 and 1881 the official survey of the 29ºS parallel border between Queensland and New South Wales was conducted by Cameron (employed by the
New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...
) and George Chale Watson (employed by the
Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...
). Astronomical observations were taken at the Barringun
telegraph station Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...
to determine the latitude and longitude. Following these observations, the
Zero Obelisk Zero Obelisk is a heritage-listed survey marker on the east bank of the Warrego River, Barringun, Shire of Paroo, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1879. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. The Zero ...
was erected on the banks of the
Warrego River The Warrego River is an intermittent river that is part of the Darling catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, which is located in South West Queensland and in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The Warrego River is the north ...
, just north of the town of Barringun. From this mark, the first 5-mile chord was produced westerly and the mile posts offset from this chord to the arc (chord and arc are used when surveying latitude to allow for
curvature of the Earth Spherical Earth or Earth's curvature refers to the approximation of the figure of the Earth as a sphere. The earliest documented mention of the concept dates from around the 5th century BC, when it appears in the writings of Greek philosophers. ...
). This continued until the survey intersected longitude 141º (a point now known as Cameron Corner), a distance of 285 miles 24.96 chains. That spot is marked by the
Cameron Corner Survey Marker Cameron Corner Survey Marker is a heritage-listed survey marker in the locality of Cameron Corner, Queensland, Cameron Corner, Shire of Bulloo, Queensland, Australia. The survey marker is at the border corner of South-West Queensland with New ...
. Watson withdrew from the survey and Cameron then returned to the Zero Obelisk at Barringun and marked the line to the east in a similar fashion. Cameron then erected a 1 ton survey post on the west bank of the Barwon River to mark the end of the survey.


New Guinea

For approximately the last 10 years of his life he was living in
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
. There he worked as a surveyor in New Guinea, mostly in the service of the government but also on private work. He owned a large amount of good land and used part of it as a plantation. He was the first magistrate in the western part of the territory. He established the Government station at Mabaduan (), but then relocated to
Daru Daru is the capital of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea and a former Catholic bishopric. Daru town falls under the jurisdiction of Daru Urban LLG. The township is entirely located on an island that goes by the same name, which is lo ...
, leaving the station in charge of Mr Hely.


Death

Cameron came to Brisbane in December 1897 to seek partners to help him develop his land in New Guinea. While there, he died of heart disease on 31 December 1897 at the Grand Hotel where he was staying. As he was unmarried and his family were in
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 ...
, a private funeral was arranged in Brisbane, and the
Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government of the state of Victoria in Australia. The premier leads the Cabinet of Victoria and selects its ministers. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, must be a member of the Vic ...
communicated news of his death to his family. He was buried on 31 December 1897 in
Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland, Queensland's lar ...
.


Legacy

The border point Cameron Corner is named after him and also the locality of Cameron Corner. The Zero Obilisk, Cameron Corner Survey Marker and Cameron's 1 Ton Survey Post are listed on 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 ...
.


References


Attribution

This article was based on material fro
Surveying the Queensland New South Wales border
published by
The State of Queensland The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the state Legislative Assembly, with the governo ...
2018 under CC-BY-4.0br>licence
accessed on 7 October 2018.


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, John Brewer Australian surveyors 1843 births 1897 deaths