Biographical entry
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Biographical entry
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Goodman, William George Toop (1872 - 1961)KBE |
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| Engineer | |
| Born: 14 March 1872 Ramsgate, Kent, England. Died: 4 February 1961 Nailsworth, South Australia, Australia. | |
| (Sir) William George T. Goodman was chief engineer (1907-1950) and manager (1908-1950) of the Municipal Tramways Trust (MTT) of South Australia where he oversaw the construction of South Australia’s tramways network and an increase in the number of MTT buses in service. Then in 1929, Goodman saw the MTT take over and revamp the Adelaide-Glenelg steam railways. Goodman also helped establish the tramways system in Dunedin, New Zealand and sat on many Australian and New Zealand boards and royal commissions. He was knighted in 1932 for his services to Adelaide. |
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After leaving school in the 1890s, William George Toop Goodman joined the London engineering firm of Poole & White. By 1895 he was back in Australia and installed the first electrical plant at the Mount Lyell mines in Tasmania. Next Goodman went to New Zealand to work for Noyes Brothers on the construction, in Dunedin, of New Zealand’s first electric tramway. He remained in Dunedin for some time and in 1903 became its chief electrical engineer. In 1907 Adelaide established its Municipal Tramways Trust (MTT) and appointed Goodman its chief engineer, then its general manager a year later. He remained in both posts until he retired in 1950. During this time, William Goodman established an electric tramways system in Adelaide (1907) and Port Adelaide (1917), a new power station, increased the number of MTT buses in operation, took over the management of the Adelaide-Glenelg railways (1929), and later replaced Port Adelaide’s trams with double-deck trolley buses (1938). During his forty-two years of service with the MTT, Goodman also held many external posts including: Federal government agent to research advances in munitions production and visited factories in Britain, Europe and the United States of America; member of the royal commissions into transport (Auckland) and South Australian railways; member of the joint Commonwealth-States inquiry into the Hume Reservoir; councilor of the University of Adelaide for over forty years; chair of the South Australian Housing Trust (1937-1944) which provided locals with low-rental accommodation and member of the Metroplitan Omnibus Board. William Goodman's efforts were rewarded in 1932 when he was knighted and again in 1945 when he received the prestigious Peter Nicol Russell memorial medal from Australia's Institute of Engineering. Chronology
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Published by The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007 Originally published 1994-1999 by Australian Science Archives Project, 1999-2006 by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre Disclaimer, Copyright and Privacy Policy Submit any comments, questions, corrections and additions Prepared by: Acknowledgements Updated: 26 February 2007 http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P001252b.htm |