Gother Kerr Mann

Gother Kerr Mann
Gother Kerr Mann, 1898
Born(1809-02-20)20 February 1809
Queenstown, Ireland[1]
Died1 January 1899(1899-01-01) (aged 89)
Greenwich, St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia[1]
Burial placeSt. Thomas Rest Park, Crows Nest, North Sydney Council, New South Wales
SpouseMary Joanna Hely
Children12
Parent(s)Cornelius Mann and Sarah Fyers
Military career
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch Bombay Army, East India Company
Service years1828–1838[2][1]
RankLieutenant[2][3]
Service number296[2]
UnitBombay Horse Artillery[2][1]

Captain Gother Kerr Mann (20 February 1809 – 1 January 1899), often referred to as Captain Mann, was a consulting engineer in New South Wales.

History

Mann was born in Ireland on 20 February 1809,[2] a son of General Cornelius Mann R.E.

Having passed cadetship at Addiscombe Military Seminary, 1825–1827, Mann advanced to 2nd lieutenant from 15 June 1827, lieutenant from 24 July 1828, Orderly officer at Addiscombe, 1831–1832, to officer 296 of the Bombay Horse Artillery in India,[4][2][1] which saw considerable action. He left Bombay, India, onboard HEICS Tigris for Australia in 1836,[3] settling in Sydney, where he helped found the Volunteer Artillery Corps.[5] He was a member of Archibald Boyd's exploration party, active in the Clarence area around 1838.[6]

In early January 1838 he married Mary Hely, eldest daughter of the late Frederick Augustus Hely (1794–1836), at St James' Church, Sydney.[7][8] From Hely, he inherited 438 acres (177 ha) on Narara Creek and 738 acres (299 ha) on Wyong Creek, which may be the properties named Cungelbung and Buccarumbi.[9] He operated a sawmill at Wyoming, New South Wales with James Hooke, another son-in-law of Hely, and built a cottage nearby.[10]

He was appointed magistrate at Gosford in 1850.[10]

In July 1855 he was appointed the first Railways Commissioner for New South Wales.[5]

He supervised the construction of Fitzroy Dry Dock at Cockatoo Island and designed the wharf layout at Circular Quay.[10] In 1859 he was appointed Superintendent of the Penal Establishment and Engineer-in-Chief of the dock establishment at Cockatoo Island.[11]

He retired from government service in 1870[5] and was appointed captain of the Volunteer Engineering Corps.[12]

Recognition

Mann Street, Gosford, was name for him,[5][13] as was the Mann River,[9] although the latter has been disputed.[14]

The eastern tip of Greenwich, where their home "Greenwich House" was situated, is called Manns Point.

Personal

Mann married Mary Johanna Hely of Wyoming, New South Wales, on 3 January 1838[15] and had 12 children.

In 1853 he purchased "Greenwich House"[a] at Greenwich Point,[16] Sydney, where he lived the rest of his life.[10]

Notes

  1. ^ Greenwich House was built for shipbuilder George Green (1809 – 30 Aug 1872), who purchased much land along the Lane Cove River.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "The Late Captain Gother Mann". The Australian Star. No. 3408. New South Wales, Australia. 4 January 1899. p. 6 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Spring, F. W. M., ed. (1902). The Bombay Artillery List of Officers (PDF). London: William Clowes & Sons, Limited. p. 89.
  3. ^ a b "Trade and Shipping". The Hobart Town Courier. Vol. 9, no. 512. Tasmania, Australia. 3 June 1836. p. 3 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ Vibart, Henry Meredith (1894). "Addiscombe Cadets 1809–1861". Addiscombe; Its Heroes and Men of Note. Westminster: Archibald Constable and Co. p. 669 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ a b c d "Captain Gother Kerr Mann". The Week (Brisbane). Vol. 47, no. 1, 202. Queensland, Australia. 6 January 1899. p. 11. Retrieved 27 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Early History". Glen Innes Examiner. Vol. 12, no. 1718. New South Wales, Australia. 16 March 1937. p. 3. Retrieved 28 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Family Notices". The Sydney Monitor. Vol. 13, no. 1135. New South Wales, Australia. 5 January 1838. p. 3 (Evening) – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ C. Swancott (30 January 1953). "Life Story of First Narara Settler". The Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate. New South Wales, Australia. p. 6. Retrieved 28 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia. elsewhere named Francis Augustus Hely
  9. ^ a b "Clarence River Historical Society". The Daily Examiner. Vol. 29, no. 9440. New South Wales, Australia. 5 November 1938. p. 8. Retrieved 28 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ a b c d C. Swancott (31 July 1951). "Origin of Mann St". The Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate. New South Wales, Australia. p. 3. Retrieved 27 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Government Gazette". The Northern Times (Newcastle). No. 315. New South Wales, Australia. 17 August 1859. p. 3. Retrieved 28 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "The Government Gazette". The Sydney Morning Herald. Vol. 62, no. 10, 176. New South Wales, Australia. 31 December 1870. p. 7. Retrieved 28 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "Captain Gother Kerr Mann". Monument Australia. 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  14. ^ "Mann River". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  15. ^ "1838.—Diamond Wedding.—1898". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. 65, no. 1959. New South Wales, Australia. 22 January 1898. p. 182. Retrieved 28 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ "An Old-Fashioned Home in an Old-World Garden". The Sydney Mail. Vol. 22, no. 555. New South Wales, Australia. 15 November 1922. p. 9. Retrieved 28 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
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