| George Alfred Julius | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Birth date | 29 April 1873 |
| Birth place | Norwich, Norfolk, England |
| Date of death | 28 June 1947 |
| Education | Christchurch College, Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Parents | Churchill Julius, Bishop of Christchurch, Archbishop of New Zealand |
| Children | 3 sons |
| Work | |
| Engineering Discipline | Mechanical |
| Practice name | Julius, Poole & Gibson Pty Ltd |
| Significant projects | automatic totalisator |
| Significant Awards | founder and president, Institution of Engineers, Australia |
Sir George Alfred Julius (29 April 1873 – 28 June 1947) was the founder of Julius Poole & Gibson Pty Ltd and Automatic Totalisators Ltd, and invented the world's first automatic totalisator.
Contents |
Early years
Julius was born in Norwich, England and shortly afterwards his family emigrated to Australia when his father Churchill Julius (1847-1938), an Anglican minister, was appointed Archdeacon for the diocese of Ballarat, Victoria. From an early age, George's mechanical inclination was obvious to his parents and he often helped his father to fix clocks. The family moved to New Zealand when Churchill Julius was nominated to the Diocese of Christchurch in 1889; he was consecrated (first) Bishop of Christchurch in 1890, and made Anglican Primate and (first) Archbishop of New Zealand in 1922.[1]
In 1890, George Julius enrolled in a B.Sc. (Mechanical Engineering) degree course at Canterbury College, University of New Zealand. Because of the contemporary boom in railway construction, he specialised in railway engineering and was the first such engineering student to graduate from this university, at the same time as Ernest Rutherford.
Early career and the totalisator
Julius's professional career began in 1896. He travelled to Western Australia to accept an appointment as assistant engineer on the staff of the Locomotive Department, Western Australian Government Railways. He worked for the Department for eleven years and was promoted to chief draughtsman and then engineer in charge of tests.
While working for the Government Railways, George Julius conducted a series of tests on timber and wrote two learned papers on Western Australian hardwoods. This research led to a job offer from Allen Taylor & Co Ltd, a timber company in Sydney, as part-time engineer. Julius accepted this offer in 1907.
In whatever spare time he had, George Julius worked on the design for an automatic totalisator. Helped by two of his sons, he built a prototype. However, the automatic totalisator was not originally conceived as a betting machine, but as a mechanical vote-counting machine. When the Government rejected the voting machine concept, George Julius adapted it as a racecourse totalisator. The first installation of the totalisator was in New Zealand in 1913, and the second at Gloucester Park Racetrack in Western Australia. Subsequent orders kept the firm of Julius Poole & Gibson solvent throughout the Great Depression, with the first American installation at Hialeah Park Florida in 1932.
One of the great contributions made by George Julius to the advancement of Australian technology resulted from his appointment, in 1926, as chairman to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). This later became the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). He lobbied for development of primary production and solution to issues in such areas as food storage and food preservation. Later, he turned his attention to issues in secondary production such as aeronautics and electronics. During World War II, he served on the Central Inventions Board, the Australian Council for Aeronautics (as chairman) and the Army Inventions Directorate.
George Julius was knighted in 1929 [2]. He remained active as a committee representative until his death on 28 June 1947.
Family and legacy
In 1898, he married Eva O'Connor, daughter of Charles Yelverton O'Connor, and they had three sons.
The eldest, Awdry Francis Julius (born 1900), was later to become a partner in his father's firm.
Another, George Yelverton Julius, was known as "Gentleman George". However, he brought his good upbringing into a life of crime. In 1953 he went to jail for eight years for burglary.[3] He was the father of Wendy Whiteley, wife of the Australian painter Brett Whiteley, and his granddaughter was Arkie Whiteley.
Julius' great-great grandnephew is American-Australian Norbert Basil MacLean III who championed equal access to the Supreme Court of the United States for members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
A road in the grounds of the CSIRO headquarters in Canberra is named in his honour.
References
- ^ "Automatic Totalisators Limited - later ATL". Totehis. http://members.ozemail.com.au/~bconlon/atl.htm#top. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ It's an Honour - knight bachelor
- ^ Margot Hilton and Graeme Blundell: Whiteley: An Unauthorised Life, MacMillan, 1996. p.34
External links
- George Julius historical page.
- George Julius family history
- Straight betting / Automatic Totalisators Ltd - trade catalogue featuring Australian installations of Julius' automatic totalisator for racecourse betting
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