Arthur Corbett
CORBETT Arthur Brownlow, MBE AMIEAust (1877-1970)
Arthur Corbett, engineer and administrator, was born in Brighton, England, on 18 February 1877 and received a part of his education at Ardingley College, Sussex. In 1890 he arrived in Australia with his parents and passed the Queensland Junior Public Examination before starting work as an apprentice at fourteen years of age. After completing his indentures, he passed the Queensland Public Service examination and was appointed as a clerk in the Money Order Branch of the GPO, Brisbane, in March 1899. In 1901 he resigned to serve in the Boer War with the Queensland Imperial Bushmen, returning as a Sergeant (and Acting Sergeant-Major) with a King's Medal and five bars. He was discharged on 5 May 1902 and three weeks later was reappointed to the Accounts Branch of the GPO, Brisbane as a clerk. By private study and departmental examinations he became an assistant engineer in 1913.
At this time Corbett carried out the first survey of telephone requirements in Brisbane and his predictions proved to be accurate ten years later. From 1914 to 1915 he was District Engineer for Rockhampton and from 1915 to 1925 Engineer in Charge of Metropolitan Line Construction, Brisbane; he gave valuable service in the Mackay area after the devastating cyclone of 1918. The talents of Corbett were becoming recognized in official circles and in 1924 H.P. Brown, Director-General of Posts and Telegraphs, commissioned him to investigate the possibilities of mechanical mail-handling. This was the genesis of the present advanced system so widely acclaimed today.
The first machine in Australia (and, in fact, in the Southern Hemisphere) for sorting packets and newspapers was built in the postal workshops in Brisbane in six weeks from plans prepared by Corbett and under his supervision; it was installed in the Mail Exchange in December 1925. Following this success Corbett designed and commissioned larger mail-handling plants for Melbourne and Sydney exchanges.
In 1927 Corbett was appointed Superintendent of Mails, Sydney (the largest postal branch in Australia), and while in this position he introduced the alphabetical system of mail sorting in order to simplify the process. He was also instrumental in recommending amendments to the postal regulations, reorganizing the mail branches and introducing various staff-training schemes. In 1933 Corbett was appointed Deputy Director of Posts and Telegraphs in Queensland and he remained in this position until his appointment as the first Director-General of the new Department of Civil Aviation in April 1939 - a position which he filled with distinction.
During World War II he organized the conversion of all available civil aircraft to military use and at a conference at RAAF HQ on 4 March 1942, was put in charge of priorities. Later he flew to Papua to supervise the airlift of American forces and although past retirement age, his service was extended to the end of the war.
Corbett joined the Institution of Engineers, Australia in 1923 as an Associate Member and published a paper in the Journal in 1933 entitled "The Mechanical Handling of Mails, General Post Office, Sydney". He was a member of Rotary International and served as President of the Queensland Branch of the Professional Officers' Association and as an editor of their publications. In 1938 he was awarded the MBE.
"ABC", as he was known to staff in many places, was a leader of men and a devoted family man, although time with his family was often limited by the demands of public service. Determined to ensure that the public received service, he built up the morale of his staff by maintaining cordial relations with the media. As a horseman in the QIB and throughout his life he displayed a typically English concern for animals. After his retirement he established a plantation at Montville to give his sons and several other returned soldiers some experience of rural life. He married Evelyn Mary, daughter of P.J. Byrne of Brisbane on 4 October 1915 and they had four sons and one daughter. He died on 20 March 1970, aged ninety-three and is buried in the Toowong cemetery.
References:
Eminent Queensland Engineers Vol 1 is available here.
Records held by P.O. Museum, Brisbane;
Information from Professor A.H. Corbett, Port Macquarie.
