Russell Dumas
DUMAS, Sir Russell John, KBE CMG HonFIEAust (1887-1975)
One of Western Australia's most powerful public servants, Russell Dumas transformed the State's approach to development. A man of great energy, prodigious hard work and determination, Dumas seemed to those around him to be able to 'see far ahead' and 'make things happen' a 'visionary' and a 'bulldozer'.
Education and early career
Russell John Dumas was born on 17 January 1887 at Mount Barker in South Australia, one of five children of Charles Morris Russell Dumas, printer, and his wife Amelia, née Paltridge. He and his younger brother were top students in their day with Sir Lloyd Dumas an influential managing editor of the Adelaide Advertiser from 1929 to 1967. After completing his schooling at Prince Alfred College, Russell studied engineering at the University of Adelaide (BSc in 1909, Dip ElecE in 1910 and BE in 1913). In 1910 he began work as a draughtsman in the South Australian Engineer in Chief's Department and from July 1912 was employed designing drainage works at Naracoorte.
Enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force on 26 January 1916, Russell was commissioned in June. He served on the Western Front in 1917-1918, mainly with the 5th Field Company, Engineers, rose to lieutenant and was twice wounded. His AIF appointment terminated in Australia on 16 November 1919. Dumas resumed his former job as assistant resident engineer and in November 1920 married Muriel Elsie Rogers (d. 1960) at St Paul's Anglican Church in Naracoorte. In 1923 he was promoted to resident engineer controlling the construction of lock No. 3 on the Murray River.
In 1925, Russell and his family moved to Western Australia to join the Metropolitan Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage Department, where he took on the role of resident engineer for the construction of Churchman Brook Reservoir.
Engineering contributions
Between 1929 and 1933 he controlled the construction of Drakesbrook and Wellington Dams, the raising of Harvey Weir, and the extension of the Collie and Harvey irrigation areas, all carried out by sustenance labour. In 1930 he was placed on the temporary staff at a reduced salary and was not reclassified until 1933. During this time, he completed a thesis on the design of high masonry dams, for which he was awarded a Master of Engineering degree by the University of Adelaide in 1931.
Appointed Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department in 1934, Russell directed the design and construction of the Canning, Samson Brook and Stirling Dams and in so doing established his reputation. Stirling, at 148 ft (45 m), was then the highest earthen dam in Australia. Proud of these engineering achievements, he was none the less critical of the State's development process: no time or money for preparation, and the designs and plans barely a nose ahead of construction if they are so much as that. 'Planning ahead' was needed. It was a tenet he practised as he forged his career.
Appointed Director of Works and Buildings in 1941, Russell was the engineering head of the Public Works Department. He had great faith in his profession. Engineering is the basis of civilisation, he declared, and its greatest work the storage and distribution of water.
Water shortage was Western Australia's most immediate agricultural problem. The Depression had highlighted the wheat belt's need for a comprehensive water supply to enable farmers to carry sheep as an alternative source of income. The preferred scheme, based on raising Mundaring Weir and Wellington Dam to provide water sources, was to become Western Australia's major post war public works project, involving both State and Federal Governments. The commitment of Commonwealth funds, finally negotiated in 1947, was primarily Russell’s achievement.
Having been requested in 1941 to investigate the North West's potential for 'increased settlement and greater productiveness', Russell concluded that closer settlement, through irrigation, was the answer and identified the Ord River as the most promising site. He promoted the Ord River Scheme and facilitated the first stages of its development, seeing it as a forerunner of many similar settlements. His visits to the North in 1941 and 1942 fostered an interest in that region of the State which strengthened after World War II through his appointments as chairman of the North West Development Committee and member of the Commonwealth Northern Australia Development Committee.
Russell believed that bold initiative, basic planning and large scale development were essential to lift Western Australia from its status as a claimant State. As chairman (1946-1953) of the Albany Zone Development Committee, he drove the extensive land development in that district. Industry had to be attracted too, and in 1951-1952 he had his greatest success. With Premier Sir David Brand’s support, Dumas negotiated the establishment at Kwinana of the £40 million Anglo Iranian Oil Co.'s refinery, Broken Hill Pty Limited’s £4 million steel rolling mill, and Rugby Portland Cement Co.'s £2.2 million works (through its subsidiary Cockburn Cement Pty Ltd). His role in attracting this capital investment was so crucial that the government extended his employment beyond normal retirement age. He was granted additional power and status as co-ordinator of works and industrial development, to ensure co operation from all public service departments in the Kwinana initiatives. Just short of his 67th birthday, Dumas finally retired in December 1953.
Russell then became a director of several companies, including Cockburn Cement and Freney Kimberley Oil Co. In the early 1960s, in an unusual display of public activism, he participated in the campaign to save Perth's Barracks Arch. He remained influential in shaping economic development policies through his advisory role to (Sir) Charles Court who, on becoming minister for industrial development in 1959, made Russell the Chairman of the newly formed Industries Advisory Committee.
Legacy
One of Western Australia's most powerful public servants, Russell transformed the State's approach to development. He named Robert Chapman, his university engineering teacher, as 'possibly the greatest influence' on his life, and Essington Lewis as the Australian who had contributed most to the country's 'real advancement'. A man of great energy, prodigious hard work and determination, Dumas seemed to those around him to be able to 'see far ahead' and 'make things happen' a 'visionary' and a 'bulldozer'.
His contributions, including being Chairman of the Perth Division of the Institution of Engineers, Australia in 1932, were well acknowledged. A series of awards culminated in the Peter Nicol Russell medal in 1952, and he was appointed CMG in 1950, KB in 1959 and KBE in 1964. In recognition of his services, the now State Government ministerial office building, located opposite Kings Park in West Perth, is named Dumas House.
Survived by his daughter and son, Sir Russell Dumas died on 10 August 1975 at Albany and was buried in Allambie Park cemetery.
References
Primary source:
Lenore Layman, Dumas, Sir Russell John (1887-1975), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, Available Online, published first in hardcopy 1996, accessed online 8 April 2019.
Other Sources:
J. S. H. Le Page, Building a State (Perth, 1986)
Select Bibliography
The Journal of the Institution of Engineers Australia, papers by Dumas, R.J.
- Design of Samson Brook and Stirling Dams, Western Australia J. v.l3, 1941, p.231. (Jt Author)
- The Construction of the Canning Dam, Western Australia J. v.8, 1936, p.l., Discussions pp.259, 331, 371. (Jt Author)
- The Design of the Canning Dam J. v.5, 1933, p.289. Discussion J. v.6, 1934, p.346.
- Development of the North West of Western Australia. East Kimberleys Ord River Irrigation Scheme, J. v.16, 1944, p.65. Discussion p.177.
West Australian, 17, 22 Jan 1953, 1 Jan 1959, 30 Apr 1960, 13 June, 31 Dec 1964, 11, 12 Aug 1975
Albany Advertiser, 3 May 1960
Dumas papers (State Library of Western Australia)(MN156; ACC 1295A; ACC 2280A; ACC 7729A)
Public Works Dept, Dumas file (State Records Office of Western Australia)
Prepared by Mike Taylor for the centenary book 'Anything is possible' in March 2019.
