Uriah Dudley FIAME (c. 1852 – 8 February 1909) was a mining engineer, inventor and mine manager in

Broken Hill, New South Wales Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

and in

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 ...

. He was secretary, Mine Managers Association of Broken Hill from 1890 and general secretary of the

Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 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 ...

from its foundation in 1893 to 1897.

Career

Dudley was manager of the Sydney Rockwell syndicate's mine known as "Wright's" in Broken Hill from March 1888 to 1889, when he was employed as manager of the Umberumberka silver-lead mine near Silverton. While there he was an active member of the community, teaching geology, mineralogy, mining, metallurgy and physics at the Silverton Technical School, was elected Mayor of Silverton and appointed to the Silverton licensing court in 1891. That same year he was elected president Silverton Chess Club. Beginning in 1891, Dudley—while manager of the Umberumberka mine at Silverton— John Howell, and others held discussions and meetings at Broken Hill, about forming an association of mining engineers. The inaugural meeting of the Australian Institute of Mining Engineers (later

), with 200 members attending, was held in Adelaide, during April 1893. John Howell became its first provisional president, and Dudley its secretary. Early in 1895 he was appointed manager of the chloridizing plant at the Proprietary mine, then in November took over management of the Golden Bar gold mine, Coolgardie. He left Coolgardie in August 1896 after publishing optimistic reports of further finds but having no working capital to develop the mine. From March to September 1897 he managed the Golden Rhine at

Menzies, Western Australia Menzies is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, east-northeast of the state capital, Perth, and north-northwest of the city of Kalgoorlie. At the 2016 census, Menzies had a population of 108. Aboriginal people hav ...

. He was in 1899 manager of the White Rocks Silver Mine Ltd. at

Emmaville, New South Wales Emmaville is a town on the Northern Tablelands in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the Glen Innes Severn Council district. Emmaville is at an elevation of 890 metres AHD. At the 2006 census, the Emmaville "ur ...

. In 1901, he was appointed manager of the Emperor gold mine at

Day Dawn Day Dawn is a ghost town in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West/upper Murchison River (Western Australia), Murchison region of Western Australia. It was a significant mining town and mine in the late nineteenth century. Located a short ...

. In 1902, he was appointed JP for the Murchison district of Western Australia secretary of the Day Dawn Chamber of Mines, and in 1904 licensing magistrate. In 1904, he left for England, where he suffered a paralytic stroke, and returned to New South Wales, where he died.

Patents

Dudley was granted patents for several inventions, including in 1898 an improved continuous flow centrifugal dryer.

Recognition

Dudley was elected to the Liverpool Geological Association, in 1893. In 1896 he was elected vice-chairman of the

North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers The North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers (NEIMME), commonly known as The Mining Institute, is a British Royal Chartered learned society and membership organisation dedicated to advancing science and technology in the N ...

, West Australian branch. His portrait is included in the AIMM website gallery.

Family

He was married to Emma (c. 1855 – 10 January 1916). Their only son, Charles Dudley (born 1880), drowned after his canoe capsized at Glenelg beach on 25 December 1895.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Uriah 1850s births 1909 deaths Australian mining engineers 19th-century Australian engineers Australian mineralogists Australian mine managers Mayors of places in New South Wales 19th-century Australian politicians Colony of New South Wales people History of Broken Hill