Edward Tindale
TINDALE, Edward BCE, MICE, JP (1874 – 1943)
Edward Tindale was born at Emerald Hill, South Melbourne on January 30, 1874. He was the son of plasterer Robert Tindale and his wife Margaret Tindale (née Thompson). He attended No 1181 State School in South Melbourne and then South Melbourne College, matriculating at the age of 15 in December 1889. He then studied at the University of Melbourne completing a four year course in Civil Engineering in 1894.
Edward Tindale travelled from Melbourne to Western Australia on the “SS Cloncurry” with his brother Robert, and arrived on June 11, 1895. He took up a position with the Public Works Department as a draftsman in July 1895. Four years later he had completed an engineering cadetship and been promoted to Assistant Engineer.
Robert Tindale senior followed his two sons to Western Australia and died in Perth in 1908. Robert Tindale jnr, Edward’s brother, set up business as a plasterer and supplier of architectural mouldings.
From 1900 to 1912 Edward Tindale was Resident Engineer on a number of rail projects, including the Brown Hill Loop Line Kalgoorlie (1901), the Collie to Cardiff Line (1903), the Jandakot to Armadale Line (1907), and the Coolgardie to Norseman Line (1907 to 1909). In 1903 1904 he was responsible for the establishment of the new Woodman Point Explosives facility, which at its opening was claimed to be the largest in the Commonwealth.
On November 6, 1907, Edward Tindale married Mabel Elizabeth White at Subiaco. They had one child, Robert Edward Gilbertson Tindale born in 1910, who was a farmer at “Chillicup” Broomehill and later lived in Albany.
In 1912 Edward Tindale was appointed PWD Engineer for the North West, being made Assistant to the PWD Engineer in Chief in 1920 and in September 1923 PWD Assistant Engineer in Chief.
The Main Roads website includes a biography of Edward Tindale and an extract is quoted here:
Mr Tindale was made Chairman of the Main Roads Board in June 1926, and from December 1930 until his retirement in 31st January 1941, he was Director of Works and Commissioner of Main Roads. Edward Tindale was the first Chairman of the newly formed Main Roads Board in 1926 at a time when few decent roads existed in Western Australia beyond the main towns.
It was during Mr Tindale’s service as chairman of the Main Roads Board and Commissioner of Main Roads that the road system in this State was transformed. Until the constitution of the Main Roads Board there was no defined road policy in WA. With few exceptions all roads were under the jurisdiction of the local authorities and they were responsible for their construction and maintenance. This was shown by the Government expenditure of £11,616 on roads during 1921-22. The result was that roads drifted into a deplorable state. After that date, Federal aid money began to be appropriated until, within a year of Mr Tindale's retirement, expenditure reached £1,000,638. During his term of office no less than 3,062 miles were declared main roads and 1,093 miles were surfaced with bitumen. The responsibilities of the Commissioner of Main Roads from 1927 to 1941 involved an expenditure of £10,556.484.
His first task was to study road construction overseas and he returned to implement a programme of road development which was new to the State. His philosophy was to build as many roads as possible to serve as many communities as possible rather than to build a few high quality roads which would benefit fewer people.
He imported the first modern road making machinery and set about linking regional centres by adequate roads. His road construction efforts made it practical for people to travel from the country to the city by car without having to endure roads which would sometimes be impassable in bad weather. Two roads that stood out as impressively improved were the Perth – Albany and Perth Bunbury roads, which in the previous years had proved to be perfect nightmares.
Even after his retirement his services were not lost to the community, as he acted in an honorary capacity as State Co ordinator of Works, assisting with the loan programmes submitted by the State Government for the approval of the Federal Coordinator of works and the Loan Council. At the beginning of August 1941, he was appointed business administrator to the munition factory in Welshpool and the stores and transport section of munitions. He was actively engaged until he suffered a fatal stroke at his residence at Mt Lawley on 19th August 1943.
Edward Tindale was survived by his wife Mabel and their son Bob.
References:
https:rac.com.au/about rac/our history/walk of fame accessed June 20, 2020
https:www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/Documents/On%20the%20shoulders%20of%20giants%20-%20Edward%20Tindale.RCN D18%5E231059106.PDF accessed June 21, 2020
Western Australian Public Service List 1905
West Australian August 20, 1943, p4
Leigh Edmonds, The Vital Link, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, 1997
