The Surveyor-General of Victoria is the public service officer nominally responsible for government surveying in Victoria, Australia. The original duties for the Surveyor-General were to measure and determine land grants for settlers in Victoria. (see History of Victoria). The Surveyor-General continues to be the primary government authority on surveying and the cadastre (land property boundaries and tenure).
The Surveyor-General is also the chair of the Surveyors Registration Board of Victoria (formerly the Surveyors Board of Victoria) and also holds the appointment of the registrar of geographic names. In addition, the Surveyor-General is a member of the Electoral Boundaries Commission of Victoria and a member of the Federal Electoral Redistribution Committee for Victoria. The Surveyor-General is a State Verifying Authority for the measurement of length.
The Surveying Act 2004, Act 47/2004, Part 6, specifies the appointment, suspension and functions of the Surveyor-General. Note that the act spells "Surveyor-General" with a hyphen, which is the conventional spelling. The Surveyor-General is required to be a Licensed Surveyor.
The Surveyor-General was originally created as a department following the separation in July 1851 of the Port Phillip District from the Colony of New South Wales to establish the Colony of Victoria. Prior to that, Port Phillip was a district branch of the NSW Surveyor-General’s Department. The Surveyor-General initially also held political office, being a member of the Victorian Legislative Council 1851-1855 and then as a Minister 1855-57. Thereafter, it changed from being that of a Ministry to a public service role as commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey and also the Surveyor-General. During its history, the office of Surveyor-General has come under a range of different departments and divisions, with different reporting arrangements. It has also downsized, and responsibilities changed.Surveyor-General’s Department 1851-57, Public Records Office Victoria, https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/VA2921
Previous responsibilities of the Surveyor-General have included being the guardian of Aborigines, which was transferred from the chief secretary to the Surveyor-General in 1856. Subsequently, it was assumed by the Board of Land and Works, under the Department of Crown Lands and Survey in 1857. The planning for and surveying of proposed railway lines in Victoria also became an important role. In May 1856, a sub-department of railways within the Surveyor-General's Department. It was established within this department because the prime function of 'Victorian Railways' was, at that time, the survey of proposed lines of railway. In the post Second World War period, the Surveyor-General was also director of mapping, but in 1995 lost this position to the Office of Geographic Data Coordination (OGDC), which became the Land Information Group (LIG) under Land Victoria. The responsibilities have continued with another business unit under what is now Land Use Victoria.
Sesquicentenary of the Surveyor-General of Victoria 2001 +Pictured (L-R): Barrie Bremner (acting 1998), Alan Fennell (acting 1998–1999), Robert Eddington (acting 1988), Surveyor-General (at 2001) Keith Bell AM RFD (1999–2003), Governor of Victoria John Landy AC CVO MBE FTSE (2001–2006), Colin Middleton ISO (1967–1972), Raymond Holmes AM (1979–1988), and John Parker (1989–1998)
The sesquicentenary of the Surveyor-General of Victoria in 2001 was a collaboration between the office of the Surveyor-General of Victoria and the surveying profession to celebrate the 150 years of the office since the appointment of the first Surveyor-General Robert Hoddle on 15 July 1851. Hoddle was appointed just two weeks after the Colony of Victoria, was founded with its separation from New South Wales, under the enabling legislation passed by the New South Wales Legislative Council which took effect 1 July 1851. The Sesquicentenary celebrations included events undertaken throughout Victoria including: 1 May 2001 - ceremony on the Jeparit-Rainbow Road at the 36th Parallel of Latitude South, at Geppert's Gate, where the Iron Survey Post monument was unveiled by the Hindmarsh Shire President, John Kemfert and the Victorian Surveyor-General, Keith Bell. The monument is a replica of the survey monument posts that Surveyor Tom Turner laid along the longitude meridians of 36th Parallel of latitude during his historic 1884 survey. 7 July 2001 - The Institution of Surveyors Victoria (ISV) organized the Gala Dinner celebration and His Excellency Governor John Landy was the guest of honour and keynote speaker. Governor Landy was accompanied by his wife Mrs. Lynne Landy. 16 July 2001 - Victorian Governor John Landy unveiled a plaque outside of Melbourne's Docklands Stadium to honour Hoddle and commemorate the point of origin for the Survey of Melbourne, Batman's Hill Datum, which commenced in 1837. The plaque was commissioned by the Surveyors Board of Victoria, through the then Surveyor-General, Keith Bell, and in conjunction with the Docklands Authority, and the surveying profession of Victoria (i.e. ISV) 7 July 2001 - Commemorative two-page spread in the Herald Sun with messages from the governor and Surveyor-General, organised by ISV. September 2001 – A storyboard commemorating the survey of Yea by Thomas Wilkinson Pinniger was unveiled by the Surveyor-General with members of the Yea and District Historical Society and Local government officials. Pinniger was the father of George William Pinniger, Surveyor-General 1925-26. October 2001 - Surveyor White’s Cairn located on the border of Victoria and South Australia, and roughly 2 hours west of Mildura was rebuilt by local surveyors from Mildura and Renmark and commemorated in a joint ceremony with the Surveyor-General. White’s Cairn is one of the most accessible survey marks along the state border. November 2001 – Commemorative plaque and theodolite sculpture monument dedicated to the surveying of the Victorian South Australia Border undertaken by Surveyors Henry Wade and William White unveiled by Surveyors-General Keith Bell (Victoria) and Peter Kentish (South Australia), approximately four kilometers west from Nelson, Victoria.
2001 was also the Australian Centenarian of Federation, and the Sesquicentenary celebrations were acknowledged by then Australian Prime Minister John Howard as making a very significant contribution.Institution of Surveyors Victoria, Traverse, quarterly issues 2001
List of Surveyors-General of Victoria Surveyor-General Period in office Notes Robert Hoddle 1851–1853 Hoddle was appointed as the first Surveyor-General of Victoria on 15 July 1851. He became the Surveyor-General upon the proclamation of the Port Phillip District as the new Colony of Victoria within the British Empire on 1 July 1851. He was previously the Surveyor-in-Charge of the Port Phillip District from 1837 to 1851. He is especially recognized for the design and layout of the Hoddle Grid in 1837, the area which forms the Melbourne central business district (CBD).
Hoddle commenced his surveying career as cadet surveyor in the British army in 1812. Subsequently he worked for Ordnance Survey in Great Britain which included the country’s trigonometrical survey. Ordnance Survey was a military organization. In 1822, he was assigned to South Africa where he undertook military surveying for a short period, before he resigned and emigrated to the British colony of New South Wales in Australia in April 1823. Soon after arriving in the colony, he was appointed as an assistant surveyor under the Surveyor-General, John Oxley. His early work included surveying the road over the Blue Mountains. In 1824, he assisted Oxley with the initial survey and the establishment of the site of Brisbane as part of an expedition to Moreton Bay. Upon returning south, over he next twelve years, he worked on surveys of the districts in the Southern Highlands including Berrima and Goulburn. It is also notable that between 1830 and 1836, Hoddle undertook surveys of the rural district now occupied by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Hoddle was by any measure a consummate professional in matters of planning and development. As such, it is well reported that his outspoken criticism of the manner in which streets and highways had been allowed to develop, amongst other issues, was not well received by the colonial administration and by 1853, then Governor Charles La Trobe is reported to have eased him out to enable a much younger replacement, viz. Andrew Clarke. In effect, it would seem that La Trobe wanted a more compliant Surveyor-General who would follow his directions rather than question and speak out about what was wrong. Hoddle "retired" after less than two years as Surveyor-General, enabling his successor Clarke to commence in March 1853. Hoddle remained in Melbourne for the remainder of his life, dying in October 1881 at 87 years of age. Sir Andrew Clarke 1853 – 1857 Clarke was the youngest appointee to hold the office of the Surveyor-General of Victoria at 28 years of age in March 1853. At the time of being appointed Surveyor-General, Clarke held the rank of Captain in the British Army's Royal Engineers. Just 5 months later he was elected to Victoria's Legislative Council retaining the role of Surveyor-General and commencing a period where the office was held to be held by an elected politician rather than a public servant.
A major focus of Clarke's term as Surveyor-General was that he was responsible for much of the planning of Victoria's first railways.
In March 1857, and upon stepping down as Surveyor-General, Clarke returned to England and sought other colonial posts. Clarke was later to be promoted to Lieutenant General during his distinguished career. Clarke served as the second Governor of Singapore and the Governor of the Straits Settlements from 4 November 1873 until 7 May 1875. Clarke played a key role in positioning Singapore as the main port for the Malay states of Perak, Selangor and Sungei Ujong.