William Campbell
CAMPBELL, William Dugald, AKC AMICE FGS LS (1849-1938)
Civil engineer who in 1899 joined WA Geological Survey and pioneered geophysical survey techniques.
William was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), India on June 24, 1849, the son of surveyor and naval officer Captain Charles Dugald Campbell and Caroline Bower Campbell nee Mylne. The family moved to the United Kingdom in the mid 1850’s.
William studied at Kings College, London and graduated with an Associateship in 1872. He worked on sewerage projects in London and other English towns as a civil engineer. He was elected an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers on April 6, 1875.
In 1875 he travelled to New Zealand working as a consulting engineer and surveyor in Auckland.
He married Julia Constance Tuson, in England, on November 11, 1879. They had three children, Margaret Constance, Dugald Neil and Ronald Henry.
On January 27, 1886, William was appointed a Licensed Surveyor, in New South Wales.
By 1886, William was working in the City Surveyor’s Office in Sydney. In October 1887, his wife, Julia, died during an operation, leaving him to care for three young children.
William had a strong interest in locating, preserving and protecting indigenous art and artefacts. He was a Member of the Royal Society of NSW and a Fellow of the Geological Society. The Institution of Surveyors NSW reports:
- In 1899 William produced a “masterly monograph” titled ‘Aboriginal Carvings of Port Jackson and Broken Bay; measured and described by W.D. Campbell’, AKC, FGS, Assoc MICE &c, Licensed Surveyor’. The work was later described as a “a comprehensive collection of about 250 Aboriginal engraving sites across nine parishes, measured and described by W.D. Campbell – and the first major publication of systematic rock art recordings in the Sydney region.”. The Aboriginal Heritage Office (AHO) was also complimentary: “As the AHO undertakes the re-recording the rock engravings of the area, we are realising just how much effort must have been invested on Campbell’s behalf. While we have site cards, aerial photographs, GPS, digital cameras, computers and topographic maps, and a car to carry them around in, Campbell had metal tapes and the basic toolkit of surveyors to compile scaled plan drawings with bearings producing a quality of work that remains a testament to his care and abilities.
In 1896, William was a foundation shareholder in the Broken Hill Sulphide Company NL.
By March 1899, he and his family travelled to Western Australia where he joined the Western Australian Geological Survey. He was promoted to Assistant Geologist in July 1900. He carried out valuable work in producing topographical maps of the areas being exploited for mineral deposits such as his 1908 report on iron ore deposits on Koolan Island.
In 1910, he was a proponent for the completion of a Hydrogeological Survey of Western Australia and a pioneer in the use of Geophysical survey techniques.
He donated 426 aboriginal artefacts to the Western Australian Government.
By mid-1914 he had retired from the Western Australian Geological Survey. Around 1917, he moved from South Perth to Palmerston North, New Zealand, possibly to be closer to his daughter.
William died on July 26, 1938, at Chillagoe in Queensland, aged 89. He was survived by his son Dugald and daughter, Margaret.
References:
Kumara Times, Issue 402, 9.1.1878, p. 2.
NSW Government Gazette, Issue 50, 27.1.1886, p. 594.
Evening News Sydney, 25.10.1887, p. 4.
NSW Government Gazette, Issue 252, 31.3.1896, p. 2325.
Sunday Times, 19.7.1936, p. 18.
West Australian, 11.3.1910, p. 3.
Compiled by Chris Fitzhardinge January 26, 2026
