Colonel Albert Axon
AXON, Albert, Colonel KBE HonDEngMelb&Qld HonDScNE MEQld HonFIEAust FIEEE (1898-1974)
Axon was born in Brisbane on 21 December 1898, the son of H.F. Axon formerly of Lancashire, England. After attending the Normal School and the Brisbane Grammar School he won the Bowen Prize and was awarded the first Open Scholarship to the University of Queensland when he matriculated in 1916. In sport he was in the school rugby fifteen, was a champion gymnast and rowed in the crew.
In 1917 he entered the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Queensland but enlisted in the AIF at the end of the year. The war ended while he was in a troopship and he returned to continue his course at the University. In 1923 he graduated in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering with First Class Honours. On graduation he proceeded overseas to gain experience and worked in Britain, Switzerland and the USA until 1926 when he returned to Brisbane and was employed by Harding Frew, consulting engineer, until 1929. In 1928 he secured his Master's degree in engineering from the University of Queensland and in 1929 set up in practice as a consulting engineer, soon advising a number of electric authorities in Queensland and northern New South Wales. The early 1930s was a time of rapid development in the electrical industry and Axon was a leading consultant in the field. In 1936 he was appointed to the Royal Commission on Electrical Development which recommended the setting up of the State Electricity Commission in Queensland on which he acted as a part time Commissioner until 1947.
During World War II, Axon again enlisted, serving from 1942 to 1945 and becoming Deputy Director of Mechanical Engineering, Queensland Lines of Communication Area, with the rank of Colonel. In 1935 he was elected to the Senate of the University of Queensland and, except for his period of war service, remained a Senator until his retirement in February 1966. He was Chairman of the Buildings and Grounds Committee and in 1957 was elected Chancellor, a position which he held until his retirement. The nine years during which he occupied this position was a period of great expansion, with the spending of millions of dollars on capital works, the establishment of a college at Townsville and the planning of a new university in Brisbane. In 1959 he was honoured with the award of the KBE in recognition of his work for the University of Queensland.
In spite of the time devoted to the position of Chancellor he was still very active in the business world. He was retained by the Brisbane City Council on an investigation into the control of electricity supply and was a member of the State Government Committee reporting on development prospects for Queensland. He was a member of the Board of the Commonwealth Banking Corporation, Chairman of four companies and a member of the board of directors of several others.
In 1921 during his engineering course Axon had joined the Institution of Engineers, Australia as a Student Member and in 1926 he gained Corporate Membership. In 1936 he became a Member (changed by Council to Fellow in 1968), serving as a Councillor from 1937 to 1940. In 1960 he won the Institution's Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal and was elected an Honorary Fellow in 1966. Honorary doctorates from the Universities of Queensland, Melbourne and New England testified to the esteem in which he was held.
Axon married Hilda, daughter of w. Withecombe of Brisbane in June 1926. He died in Brisbane on 17 February 1974 at the age of seventy-five, survived by his wife and a family of one son and one daughter.
References:
Eminent Queensland Engineers Vol 1 is available here.
University of Qld Gazette, No 61 (1966)
Brisbane Grammar School Annuals, 1869-1922 (Brisbane, 1923)
Information from Mr R W Axon, Brisbane, and University of Qld Archives,
Queensland Hall of Fame
