William Quirk
QUIRK, William Montague Harley, MIME (1857-1923)
William Quirk was born in Attleborough, Warwickshire, England, on December 18, 1857. He was the son of the vicar of Attleborough, Rev James Richard Quirk and his wife, Anna Maria Quirk (nee Storr). By 1863 the family had moved to Blandford Forum in Dorset, where the Rev Quirk had been appointed Rector.
Quirk undertook five years of engineering pupillage under the London based engineers Field and Cotton. He worked under both partners, Edward Field MIME and Francis Michael Cotton MIME, at Holyhead Harbour, Wales. After completing his pupillage he worked on the Victoria Graving Docks in London and then went into private practice in Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire.
Around 1885 Quirk travelled to New South Wales, and by July 1886 was in partnership with a licensed surveyor, Alfred Hugh Beresford Conroy. This firm was also involved with mining, with Quirk supervising the construction of the Day Dawn Gold Mine on Little River, near Braidwood, east of where Canberra now is, and south of Goulburn.
On October 18, 1886, William Quirk married Ada Mary Cooper at Goulburn. They had three children, Linden (born 1887), Eric (born 1891) and Dorothy (born 1894).
When his business partner, Alfred Conroy, left the Goulburn District in August 1889, Quirk was elected to the subsequent vacancy as Alderman on the Goulburn Borough Council. Quirk also succeeded Conroy as the Honorary Captain of the Goulburn Reserve Rifles, a position Quirk held until he left Goulburn in April 1892.
Quirk’s involvement in mining led to him being the legal representative and then the liquidator for both the Day Dawn Gold Mine and the Carrington Gold and Silver Mining Company.
In 1892, Quirk left Goulburn to travel to Sydney, where he worked as a mechanical engineer for Messrs Tangye. He was also a prolific inventor, with his Quirk Tablet Exchange rail security system being taken up by the NSW Railways. Quirk's exchange system enabled trains to pick up and return section tablets whilst running at speed. With Joseph Sydney Abbott he also developed a patented wool washing system that was powered by a Noakes oil engine. Quirk ultimately joined Walter M Noakes and was a representative for John Fowler and Co of Leeds.
In June 1896 he was appointed, along with R B Campbell and John A McDonald, to review the requirement for a locomotive workshop at Midland, in WA. They came up with a £250,000 concept involving seven acres of workshop floor space. The concept was criticised by C Y O'Connor for not providing for the introduction of electricity.
Quirk and his wife and three children travelled to Albany on the RMS Massilia, leaving Sydney on February 27, 1897, to establish the Western Australian Branch of J Barre Johnston and Co. By May 1897, an office had been opened in Leake Street, Fremantle. The new office was extremely busy, as J Barre Johnston and Co were the agents for Babcock and Wilcox boilers as well as Wunderlich. J Barre Johnston and Co also opened an office in Kalgoorlie. Notable projects in which W M H Quirk was involved were the Mammoth Coolgardie Condenser, which he designed, and the Leonora Gwalia Tramway (1903), for which he was the construction supervisor. Quirk was then heavily involved in supplying equipment for the Goldfields Water Supply, and was a guest at the opening ceremony at Mount Charlotte in February 1903.
In 1900, W M H Quirk was elected a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London.
In April 1902 W M H Quirk took an extended trip to England, Europe and the USA returning in January 1903. Whilst he was absent Charles Henry Arkroyd Stuart managed the J Barre Johnston and Co WA business.
By September 1904, W M H Quirk had sold up his Cottesloe home, “Attelboro”, and left with his family for the Eastern States. His focus then became promoting a petrol vapour powered lamp, and the use of petrol vapour for cooking, heating, ironing, and lighting under the banner of "Light of Australia".
By 1906 he was in partnership as Quirk and Moffatt, Engineers. By 1912 he had offices in Melbourne and Sydney, and floated Quirk’s Lighting and Engineering, valuing the business at £38,000. He became Managing Director of the company. Later he developed a windmill electric generator.
William Quirk died at his daughter’s home, “Willeroo”, in Brighton, Victoria, on March 28, 1923. He was survived by his wife and their three children. His son, Linden, an engineer, was involved in managing Quirk Victory Lighting Company after William Quirk’s death. The business, in varied forms, survived until recently, being managed by his great granddaughter.
References:
Cumming Papers
Clarence and Richmond Examiner, 22.4.1893, p. 3.
Goulburn Herald, 3.7.1886, p. 4.
Coolgardie Pioneer, 10.3.1900, p. 24.
Daily News, 7.6.1900, p. 2.
Evening Courier, 14.1.1903, p. 1.
Sydney Morning Herald, 7.8.1912, p. 19.
Quirk's Victory Table Lamp | Classic Pressure Lamps & Heaters (Accessed 9.1.2021)
