Morning Post (Cairns, Qld. : 1897 - 1907), Friday 21 March 1902, page 3


Death of the Hon. James

Thorneloe Smith.

The death is announced of the Honorable James Thornloe Smith,

M.L.C,. in his 77th year. He had been in feeble health for some time and his death was not un-expected. Deceased, who was the

father of Mrs Fearnley, the wife of our esteemed townsman, Mr J. G. Fearnley, expired on the 14th inst. We take the following bio-

graphical notice from Pugh's Men of the Times :—

SMITH, Hon. James Thorneloe, M.L.C., M.I.C.E., was born on August

20, 1825, in the city of Chester,

educated at Woodhouse Grove School, near Leeds, and trained for his pro-fession at the railway works in Hull. He arrived in Victoria in 1852. In 1855 he entered the Civil Service of that Colony on the initiation of the Railway Department; as a surveyor and engineer. He had charge of im-portant works on the Mount Alexander

line, between Elphinstone and Bendigo. On a reduction of the staff

being made on hs completion, Mr

Smith came to Queensland in

November, 1862. For twelve months

he was employed in exploring the country then called the "Far West." Mr Smith entered the Civil Service of Queensland in 1863. on the initiation of the Railway Department, especially for conducting the survey of the upper portion of the Main Range, above Murphy's Creek. In 1865 he was appointed Resident Engineer for con-structing a portion of the Western line to Gatton, including the Victoria Tunnel, a work of great importance at the time, after which in 1867, he

undertook the construction of the line from Toowoomba to Warwick. In 1874 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Southern and Western Railway, which position he held during 18 months, and was then transferred to

the office of Chief Engineer of Railway surveys throughout the colony, in which capacity he visited, all the northern ports as far as Cooktown, making initial barometrical surveys into the interior with the view of collecting information for the Govern-ment relative to the possibilities of

railway construction from the several ports. When Mr Stanley visited England on twelve months' leave of absence. Mr Smith was appointed acting-chief Engineer, and on Mr.

Stanley's return the office of Deputy Chief Engineer of the Southern and Western Railways was conferred upon him ; this appointment he held until July, 1884, when the Griffith Ministry abolished the office. In 1880 he was elected a full member of the Institute of Civil Engineers, London. In 1893 appointed by the Govemor-in-Council a member of the Victoria Bridge Board, and 1897 gazetted an Arbitrator in the railway case between the Government and Baxter and Saddler.

On the 21st August, 1883, Mr Smith was called to the Upper House. Mr Smith continued to retain the confi-dence of the Government of the day, and after several Executive appoint-ments to arbitrate for them, he was gazzetted professional arbitrator in the celebrated cause of Robb v. The Commissioner for Railways, in which the Department was sued for the sum of 167,000 pounds claimed by Mr Robb to be due on the Cairns-Railway Contract, and the result of which was an award of 14,000 pound in Mr Robb's favor after an exciting hearing.