George Goyder

George Goyder (George Woodroffe Goyder; born June 24, 1826, London, England; died November 2, 1898, Echunga, South Australia) was an outstanding surveyor in South Australia during the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Assistant and then Surveyor-General

In his period as Assistant Surveyor-General Goyder made many expeditions into the Outback regions of South Australia, thinking that the water in lakes he saw at the time was fresh and permanent, rather than exceedingly erratic. He wrote many letters to newly established pastoralists who had moved into the arid regions for the state's north, and also surveyed the newly establishing mining industry in the Flinders Ranges.

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His early years as Surveyor-General were very difficult, especially his efforts to help establish settlement in the Northern Territory by supervising the establishment of the pastoral leaseholds that continue to the present day. Pastoralists were hit by a major drought in the middle of the decade and complained severely, with many forced to move even relatives away from their cattle stations by the end of 1865. Goyder was also faced with the despair of his long-established wife, Frances Mary Smith, who suffered the loss of twins at birth during George's long travels in the Outback, and died of a drug overdose in 1870.

Related Topics:
Drought - Drug overdose

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