Frederick Slade Drake Brockman

Frederick Slade Drake-Brockman - was educated at Bishop Hale's School and was articled in 1878 to surveyor Mr J.S. Brooking. He joined the Department of Public Works and Railways in 1886 and was Surveyor-in-Charge of road and telegraph routes from Whyndham to Hall's Creek. His last campsite was known as the Brockman. In May 1891 he transferred to Lands and Surveys becoming Chief Inspecting Surveyor in 1894. As staff surveyor, he oversaw the drainage of the Harvey and Stirling estates and marked out the second line of the rabbit proof fence from the Murchinson to the Eucla. After the department's decentralization in 1910, Frederick served as district surveyor for Nelson until his appointment as Surveyor-General of Western Australia in June 1915. In 1901 he explored previously uncharted territory in the Kimberley, north of latitude 17 degrees. He was accompanied by his 2nd in charge, Mr C. Crossland, Dr. F. House (botanist) and Mr A. Gibb Maitland (geologist). He named the Princess May Ranges and the Clader and King Edward rivers. In the south-west, his 1904 report and classification of land for stock, dairying, fruit and potato growing between the Vasse and Shannon Rivers was a precursor to development. He declared in 1913 the resultant subdivision to be "probably the finest cadastral survey that has been affected in Australia". During his career, he was the Chairman of the Land Section of the Repatriation Board, the Wodgil Board, the Town Planning Association, and the Licensed Surveyors Board. He was also a member of the Railway Advisory Board. He went to England in 1905 where he actively promoted migration to Western Australia. He died in Perth and is buried at Karrakatta Cemetery.

• Reference: WikiTree Genealogy - SmartCopy: Feb 15 2023, 3:27:09 UTC