(Surveyor) Samuel Parkinson

Samuel Parkinson

Samuel Parkinson came to Australia having worked as a surveyor in England, New Zealand and the United States.

It seems he may have worked in NSW for a time as a surveyor without any formal certificate to practice because, on 20th May 1847 he wrote the Deputy Surveyor General, Samuel Perry: ‘Should the Government…expect each squatter to mark out his own boundaries, I should be obliged if you would grant me a certificate to practice as a surveyor, for as the case is at present, the proprietors of runs are in doubt whether my measurements will be accepted by the Government and therefore feel disinclined to employ my services in case of disputed boundaries or otherwise.’ His letter was sent from the Deniliquin Woolshed where he apparently was surveying for the landholder, Benjamin Boyd.

The township of Deniliquin was subsequently laid out by Parkinson in 1848. He then laid out Bombala and Pambula in 1850 (and also surveyed some suburban allotments in Eden and at Merimbula Lake) and chose a site for the township of Gundary (which was later renamed Moryua), and undertook the initial survey of Bega in February 1851. (His plan had the Bega River running diagonally through the town; a raging flood in May 1851, in which 17 people drowned, demonstrated that Parkinson’s chosen site for the town was unsatisfactory, so a survey of a more satisfactory site (present day Bega) was undertaken in 1853 or 1854 by Surveyor Spencer Bransby.)
He then was employed at many sites along the Murray River and in the Riverina, making occasional visits again to the South Coast.

ioneering surveyors, of course, were news, and it’s interesting to read some of the newspaper reports from the time about Surveyor Samuel Parkinson. They illustrate some of the challenges he (and other Colonial surveyors) faced. Surviving correspondence is similarly revealing:

Notice in the Government Gazette:
Colonial Secretary's Office,
Sydney, 9th November, 1849.
TEN POUNDS REWARD OR A CONDITIONAL PARDON.
WHEREAS it has been represented to the Government, that on the night of the 23rd July last, a draft horse, of which a description is hereunder given, was stolen from the Camp of Mr. Assistant Surveyor Parkinson, on the Yollekool, near Shaw's Station, in the Murrumbidgee District; His Excellency the Governor directs it to be notified, that a reward of Ten pounds will be paid to any free-person or persons who may, within six months from the present date, give such information as shall lead to the recovery of the horse and the apprehension and conviction of the guilty parties; and if the person giving such information be a prisoner of the Crown, application will be made to Her Majesty for the allowance of a Conditional Pardon to such prisoner of the Crown.
By His Excellency's Command.

Letter to the Surveyor General dated 9th November 1851, written in Araluen:
Sir—I have the honor to report to you that my party is now reduced to one man and that I am unable to engage men to assist me in carrying on my duties in the field in consequence of the high rates of wages given at the Araluen Goldfield to which place every labouring man proceeds immediately the period of his engagement expires. I have been dragging my own chain for the last month and have ridden 200 miles in different directions looking for men but without success as the whole southern portion of the district is abandoned by the disengaged labourers for the gold mines. Under these circumstances I determined to proceed at once to Araluen where all the people are concentrated hoping to engage some of the unfortunate miners. I have been disappointed, the men working these rich deposits of gold are averaging from half an ounce to two and a half ounces per man per day and no offer of reasonable wages is accepted. I may state that I have been offering 20/- and rations per week to men who have been formerly in my service, and in answer to my offer I have been shown a tin dish containing from £40 to £50 in gold. I have therefore to request you will instruct me in which manner I shall proceed as it is impossible to carry on my duties without men.

Illawarra Mercury, 13th June 1859:
_Surveyor at Last. — 'Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.' I hope, now that Mr Parkinson has arrived, we may keep him till a tolerable quantity of land is put into the market. The land sale of the 6th proximo, consisted only of old lots with a new face on them. _

Illawarra Mercury, December 15th 1859:
Court of Requets, Nowra. December 7th, 1859. Berry v. Parkinson, for £2, for a Surveyor's drawing board. Defendant failed in filing a defence or appearing; verdict for plaintiff, with costs.

Illawarra Mercury, 29th Dec 1859:
Road Matters. — Mr Surveyor Parkinson came down here a short while ago to lay out the road, and it was rumoured that he would measure a considerable quantity of the land which is known to be in the vicinity of Ulladulla, and which some of the inhabitants here wish to have sold, so that they may secure homes for themselves without delay. But, to their great surprise and disappointment, he has left the district, and does not appear to be in a hurry to come back. I hope some active surveyor will make his appearance shortly, and measure this land, so that people who are able and willing to purchase may have an opportunity to do so, and not allow the said land to remain barren waste any longer.

Illawarra Mercury, 1st Jan 1861:
Mr. Surveyor Parkinson, who has lately come here, made an attempt to cut his throat last Sunday morning, with a razor. He made a terrible gash from ear to ear, but fortunately did not go deep enough to nick the thread. It is said that he has become quite a fanatic in religion of late. He has been sent to Sydney by the steamer.

In December 1862, Surveyor Parkinson of Waverley, lately residing in Randwick, was declared insolvent. His liabilities were £201.18s.6d, his assets were £44.