George Goyder
George Goyder (George Woodroffe Goyder; born June 24, 1826, London, England; died November 2, 1898, Echunga, South Australia) was an outstanding surveyor in South Australia during the latter half of the nineteenth century.
He is remembered today for Goyder's Line of Rainfall, a line used in South Australia to demarcate land climatically suitable for arable farming from that suitable only for light grazing. However, Goyder was an avid researcher into the lands of South Australia (including the present-day Northern Territory and made recommendations to a great number of settlers in the newly developing colony, especially to those exploiting the newly discovered mineral resources of the state.
Early in his life, Goyder's family moved from London to Glasgow and George showed at an early age that he had considerable talent as an engineer and surveyor. However, at the age of 22 Goyder followed his sister to Sydney, but after a few years he settled in South Australia and rose very rapidly, becoming Assistant Surveyor-General by 1856 and Surveyor-General by 1861.
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Assistant and then Surveyor-General
In his period as Assistant Surveyor-General Goyder made many expeditions into the Outback regions of South Australia, thinking that the water in lakes he saw at the time was fresh and permanent, rather than exceedingly erratic. He wrote many letters to newly established pastoralists who had moved into the arid regions for the state's north, and also surveyed the newly establishing mining industry in the Flinders Ranges.
His early years as Surveyor-General were very difficult, especially his efforts to help establish settlement in the Northern Territory by supervising the establishment of the pastoral leaseholds that continue to the present day. Pastoralists were hit by a major drought in the middle of the decade and complained severely, with many forced to move even relatives away from their cattle stations by the end of 1865. Goyder was also faced with the despair of his long-established wife, Frances Mary Smith, who suffered the loss of twins at birth during George's long travels in the Outback, and died of a drug overdose in 1870.
Goyder's Line Of Rainfall
Before the drought of the middle 1860s, wheat and barley growing had been spreading rapidly further north and the erroneous belief that rain would "follow the plow" led to the idea of cereal crops spreading up to the Northern Territory border.
However, the 1864/1865 drought put paid - at least temporarily - to these ambitions. Goyder was, in the midst of his work in the pastoral zone, asked to do a report on the problem and his response was to find out how far south crop failure had been general. The northernmost point at which crops had not failed was marked as "Goyder's Line Of Rainfall" and corresponds approximately to the 300-millimetre (12 inch) annual isohyet (figures vary from 250 to 350 millimetres in different publications). Goyder recommended that farmers not attempt to farm cereal crops anywhere north of this line. The idea was quite contrary to beliefs widespread at the time and seen as ridiculous by many people in high places, yet it has been proven to be very wise by the many major droughts in the 140 years since, which have led to major losses by all graingrowers near to or north of the line.
Goyder's Line was first accepted significantly after a number of dry years in 1881-1882 and 1884-1886, though improved breeding of wheat has allowed some expansion in the 1980s and 1990s, despite a couple of very severe droughts (amongst many very wet years, quite probably due to anthropogenic climate change).
Darwin
Goyder's other major feat was the planning, siting and initial development of Darwin, now the major city of the Northern Territory. The site was chosen for its exceptionally good water supply (especially when compared with areas south of 20°S!), and potential for easy communication with the rest of the continent through land or sea transportation. The site (actually at present-day Palmerston) was done after considering many other possibilities in the Top End, and Goyder went so far as to design the street plan of Darwin before it was even founded in 1877, as the Overland Telegraph reached the site. A street in Darwin - built in 1955 - is named after Goyder, as is a large river in Arnhem Land and electorates in both the Northern Territory and South Australia.
Goyder led an austere and disciplined life, and this was reflected in his strict treatment of subordinates - though he was always regarded as fair to those he advised in spite of many complaints by farmers and graziers. By the late 1880s, however, Goyder's health was declining and, with no improvement coming, he resigned the post of Surveyor-General at the end of 1893. He died in 1898.