William Crossman
CROSSMAN, William, RE CMG KCMG AMICE FRGS JP MP (1830-1901)
William Crossman was born in Isleworth, Middlesex, England on June 6, 1830. He was the son of brewer Robert Crossman and his wife, Sarah Crossman (nee Douglas). William Crossman was educated at Berwick Grammar School and then attended Mr Jeffery’s School at Woolwich prior to entering the Royal Military Academy in January 1847.
His early life mirrored that of fellow officer E F Du Cane. Crossman was commissioned in the army as a second lieutenant on December 19, 1848 with his initial posting being with the Royal Engineers at Chatham and then Woolwich. From January to October 1851 he was assigned to work at the Great Exhibition for special duty under the Foreign Office.
Crossman left England on November 2, 1851 on the sailing ship “Marion” with 118 convicts and 161 ticket of leave men. The ship arrived at Fremantle on January 31, 1852.
The most important project that Crossman involved with was finalising the alignment of the Albany Highway in 1852 with surveyor, A C Gregory, and constructing many of the bridges to make it functional. Work commenced on constructing the highway in 1852 and by October 1853, over 50 miles of road and bridges had been built from Armadale.
In 1852 he helped form the Mechanics Institute in Albany, and was its first President. Convicts were encouraged to join and use the resources of the institute to improve themselves. He was also the Resident Magistrate for Albany, Police Magistrate in Perth and a visiting Magistrate.
Another of Crossman’s major projects was designing and constructing the Claise Brook drain to overcome annual flooding of large sections of Perth from Lake Kingsford. This lake was being used to power the Kingsford Mill in what is now Mill Street, but the priority was to improve health and access for the citizens of Perth. Work commenced in August 1853 and was completed for the winter of 1854. The Kingsford Mill had to be decommissioned and was purchased by local government.
On February 17, 1854, Crossman was promoted to First Lieutenant. Also in 1854 he visited Champion Bay (Geraldton) and reported being impressed with the mineral wealth of the region and particularly the Geraldine mine. The same year he supervised the construction of bridges over the King and Kalgan Rivers near Albany and the Albany Gaol.
On March 3, 1855 Crossman married Catherine Josephine Morley at Albany. They had six children.
Crossman was recalled to fight in the Crimean War and sailed from Western Australia with his wife on the "Esmerelda" on February 25, 1856. Crossman arrived in England to find the Crimean War had ended, and was then assigned to the Inspector General of Fortifications. He spent several years engaged in surveys and designs for the defences of Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight, Gosport, Portland and Plymouth.
In December 1861 Crossman left England for Canada and was appointed Secretary to the Royal Commission on the Defences of Canada. He returned to England to work at the War Office and on February 5, 1864 was promoted to Captain. On March 4, 1866 he was again sent overseas to report on government buildings in Japan and China. During this mission he acquired a dockyard for the Admiralty in Shanghai and accompanied naval expeditions to Nanking and Yung Chow.
Between 1870 and 1882 Crossman found himself working in Constantinople (for the Foreign Office); Griqualand West, Africa (for the Colonial Office), Nova Scotia, Bermuda and Jamaica (as inspector of submarine mining defences); Esquimalt, Fiji, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia (for the Colonial Office). He was promoted to Major in 1872 and awarded a CMG in May 1877.
From 1882 to 1885 he was the Commanding Royal Engineer to District Colonial Staff and also took special leave to assess the finances of Jamaica. He also visited Albany to assess fortifications to protect the Albany Harbour entrance in 1883. He was promoted to Colonel in May 1885, but resigned his commission later that year, on September 30. He then entered the UK Parliament as the Member for Portsmouth on November 25, 1885 holding that seat until June 28, 1892. He was awarded a KCMG in March 1884.
Crossman retired from the army with the honorary rank of Major General on January 6, 1886. He was a JP for Northumberland, Alderman of the county council, and High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1894-95. He held office on the River Tweed Commission and was an associate member of the Institute of Civil Engineers.
In 1886 Crossman was a foundation director of the Waddington syndicate which was formed to construct and operate the Midland Railway.
Crossman’s wife Catherine died in 1898, and the following year he married Ann Matilda, the daughter of Lieutenant General Richards. Crossman died at Belgravia Hotel, London on April 19, 1901 survived by his second wife.
The Crossman River, which runs through Boddington, is named after him. Crossman was a close friend of Edmund Du Cane, who published a book on his life after Crossman’s death.
References:
Alexandra Hasluck, "Royal Engineer, a life of Sir Edmund Du Cane", Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1973;
Donald S Garden, Albany, a Panorama of the Sound from 1827, Nelson, Melbourne, 1977;
Perth Gazette, 18.4.1854, p2;
Inquirer, 19.7.1854, p2;
West Australian, 29.1.1886, p3;
https://sappers-minerswa.com/officers/crossman-william/ - accessed January 10, 2020;
Sunday Times, 24.6.1928, p9.
