William Reynoldson
REYNOLDSON, William Coates MICE MAWWA (1870-1942)
William Coates Reynoldson was born at Vaughan, near Castlemaine, in Victoria on October 24, 1870, the son of farmer John Reynoldson and his wife Elizabeth Reynoldson nee Coates. His family moved to Lancaster near Kyabram in northern Victoria when he was a young child.
Reynoldson was apprenticed to Melbourne based hydraulic engineers Hodgson and Smith, then being operated by Thomas Cowley Hodgson (who came to Western Australia), and Bernhard Alexander Smith. He worked on irrigation works and municipal water supplies in Victoria and Tasmania.
In January 1896 Reynoldson took up a position as assistant engineer with the Public Works Department in Western Australia, primarily working on surveys and design of the Mundaring Weir and Goldfields Scheme. He also prepared a report on Water Supply from Limeburner’s Creek in Albany in 1897.
Up until 1902, Reynoldson was involved with supervision of the construction of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme. He was appointed Chief Engineer Goldfields Water Supply on March 1, 1903, and held that position until he was made redundant in 1912.
The use of Mundaring Weir as a supply for the Metropolitan Area was a common suggestion and in 1907, Reynoldson chaired a committee looking at water supplies for Metropolitan Perth. The outcome was support for a new supply at Canning Dam.
Corrosion of the Goldfields pipeline, both externally and internally, was a major problem throughout the its early years. Reynoldson was part of a Board established in 1909 to provide recommendations on resolving corrosion.
After leaving the Public Works Department, Reynoldson took up farming at Ninghan near Wongan Hills.
William Reynoldson was active in the formation of the WA Institution of Engineers being a foundation member, inaugural trustee and Vice President from 1910 to 1914.
In 1926 Reynoldson married widow Kate Millicent Rogers, whose first husband had died in 1922. Reynoldson died on May 14, 1942 in Northam, survived by his wife and his four stepchildren.
Reynoldson was a very capable, diplomatic and resourceful engineer who took head on the challenges of corrosion and tuberculation of the Goldfields pipeline. However, his close connection with T C Hodgson made him a political and media target.
References:
J. S. Battye (ed), Cyclopedia of Western Australia, vol 1 (Adel, 1912)
Albany Advertiser, 23.9.1897, p3
Numurkah Leader, 26.8.1904, p2
West Australian, 11.9.1935, p10
West Australian, 26.5.1937, p3
Richard G Harley, River of Steel, Access Press, 2007
