George Poole
POOLE, George Thomas Temple JP ARIBA AMICE FWAIA AMIEAust (1856-1934)
George Thomas Temple Poole was born in Rome on May 29, 1856 the only child of Lieutenant Colonel John George Temple, engineer, and his wife Louisa Mary Temple, nee Poole. His father was invalided home from the Crimean War and died soon after. Louisa Mary Temple then remarried a Poole cousin and changed her son's name to Temple Poole.
George Poole was educated at Winchester College, and in 1876 he was commissioned in the militia, Hampshire Regiment. After leaving school he was articled in architecture and civil and mechanical engineering. He worked in England, briefly in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and in 1884 was appointed Superintendent of Public Works in Western Australia. In 1889, Poole became Director of Public Works and when the civil service was reorganised after responsible self government in 1890, he was appointed Assistant Engineer in Chief, and Government Architect. He resigned from the Public Works in 1897 and then practised privately as an engineer and architect.
Poole regarded himself as both an engineer and architect and was a foundation member of the WA Institution of Engineers.
Poole was involved with the establishment of the Perth Tramways Company. He was responsible for designing many outstanding public buildings such as the Old Treasury Buildings, Albany Courthouse and Post Office as well as buildings in Coolgardie, Cue and Marble Bar.
A full biography is available at https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/poole-george-thomas-temple-8076
References:
J. S. Battye (ed), Cyclopedia of Western Australia, vol 1 (Adel, 1912)
J S H Le Page, Building a State, Water Authority of Western Australia, 1986
Ray Oldham, Poole, George Thomas Temple (1856–1934), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed online 19 December 2019.
