Verifying the surveys
1860 to 1880: Penalties for substandard surveys
Although the Surveyor General's Department had its own staff of surveyors for work on the crown lands of the colony, their numbers were never enough. This was especially in times of high demand for crown lands and so contract surveyors had to be employed. It then became the task of the salaried surveyors to examine the work submitted by the contractors.
If the work was found wanting, the penalty could be severe as W.A. Tully, Surveyor General, reported in 1879 in his Annual Report:
Surveying is a class of work in which great dependence has to be placed on the intelligence, honesty, and conscientiousness of the surveyor. The majority of those employed by the Department, I am happy to say, give little or no trouble. They take an interest in their work, and it is a pleasure to them to execute it in a creditable way.
There are others, however, upon whom the same reliance cannot be placed. The inspecting surveyors have to make periodical examinations of their work on the ground, and were it not for this liability to inspection, I am afraid it would be very difficult to maintain the requisite degree of accuracy in the field.
In consequence of errors in their work, I have dispensed, within the last twelve months, the services of several licensed surveyors. It is a severe step to take, but the importance of having reliable men to effect the surveys is so essential to the economical and satisfactory working of the Department, that I feel it necessary to take this course whenever a gross case is reported.Tully WA 1879
When challenged, surveyors gave some interesting explanations as to their results.
Surveyor W. Fryar, in 1871, explains to the examining surveyor why his short distances are better than the long distances:
In the first portion, referred to No 206, Moggill, the greatest difference is in the west boundary 6494 by Exg Surveyor and 6445 by myself. The difference is so small that it could scarcely be sworn to in rough country, indeed when you consider that all the danger of litigation between adjoining properties, and claims against the government would lie against short measurements, it will be questionable whether the extra 1½ inches is not rather a safeguard than otherwise ... And although my chainage is not by any means perfect, I am strongly of opinion that with all its faults, it is better and safer than that of the examining surveyor who if not absolutely correct, errs on the wrong side, whereas I am always on the right side, as I know of no case yet where he has reported my given lengths as being too long.Fryar W 1871
1880 to 1900: Checking the work
It was the task of government surveyors to examine the surveys of contractors. The form of the examination was explained in the Annual Report of 1889:
The staff of salaried surveyors is not sufficiently large to make a rigid examination of every surveyor's work in detail. Each survey, however, is subjected to a severe mathematical examination in the drafting branch, and the work in the field is inspected as frequently as possible.
The plans are checked in every possible way, and suspected inaccuracies reported to the staff surveyors for examination at the earliest opportunity.
Each surveyor knows his work is liable to examination at any time, and if found below the recognised standard of excellence, or charged for at too high a rate, he is well aware that no further work will be entrusted to him. By this means wholesome check is kept upon bad work, and it is confidently believed that there is very little faulty work now done for this department, and there will be less in the future.Surveyor-General's Annual Report 1889, John Oxley Library, Brisbane
The field examination by staff surveyor R.G. McDowall, when examining licensed surveyor A.G. Tofft at Goondiwindi in 1893, revealed the following discrepancies:
The work appears to have been very carefully done with the exception noted below;
Angular measurements: May be considered good, my datum being a short line of 22 chains.
Lineal measurements: Good, but made with a tape too long, nearly 0.5 per 1,000.
Posts: Good, old short post at north-west corner of adjoining Portion 9 not renewed.
Pegs: Large, but in places made from saplings.
Lockspits: Full length, time and floods have filled them.
Marks: Good; tree at north east corner (north-west corner Portion 9) not marked with new number.
Blazing: Good, though inclined to smallness, off w boundary of 3v pegged and blazed and partly cleared but not thoroughly. McDowall RG 1893
Last updated: 17 June 2009