Preserving Our History

G. W. Goyder (1826 - 1898)

G.W. Goyder 1870s. SRSA GRG 35/342/912

Born in Liverpool in 1826, George Woodroffe Goyder was educated in Glasgow where he later joined an engineering firm and trained in surveying. He emigrated to Sydney in 1848, moving to Adelaide in 1851. In the same year, he married Francis Mary Smith and, during the next 20 years, they raised nine children.

In 1851 Goyder joined the public service. Two years later he became the Chief Clerk in the Land Office, swiftly progressing to First Assistant in 1855 and Deputy Surveyor-General in 1858. He succeeded Freeling as Surveyor-General on 19 January 1861 and held that position for 33 years. As a colonial official his duties were wide-ranging.

The quantity and quality of his work was Herculean. Besides supervising the cadastral surveying of most of the hundreds of the colony, he worked as a valuer, as an inspector of mines, as a chairman of the Forestry Board and of the Railways Commission. In carrying out these duties, he personally embarked on a relentless series of explorations, valuations and investigations which required travelling huge distances in harsh conditions on horseback.

Victoria Square, 1866. SLSA B22415

When not on his travels, Goyder worked in the Government Offices (aka the Treasury Building) on the north east corner of Victoria Square.

Victoria Square, 1875. SLSA B28758