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Crawford, Alexander (1857 - 1935)

Published Sources
Agriculturalist
Born: 5 May 1857  Belfast, Ireland.  Died: 8 November 1935  South Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Alexander Crawford was a chief inspector on rabbit and vermin for the Western Australian Bureau of Agriculture (1896-1920c). He was also employed by the Victorian Government to promote and educate people in dairy production and was manager of the ill-fated Victorian Creamery and Butter Company (1891-1895c).

Career Highlights
Soon after graduating from Ireland’s Albert Agricultural College, Glasnevin, Alexander Crawford migrated to Australia for health reasons. It is though he spent some time in Queensland, then surveying routes through Western Australia for the transcontinental railway and finally managing a butter factory in Ballan, Victoria. In 1881 took over the part-ownership of a sheep run in Moorarrie, Western Australia, but left for Perth the following year.

Crawford then travelled to Europe to observe dairy farming practices and upon his return was appointed manger of a traveling Victorian dairy. This job entailed traveling by rail to thirty-eight centres providing practical demonstrations and lectures on cheese and butter production and hygienic operation of equipment. He also wrote several reports and articles on a wide range of subjects within the field of dairy farming and production.

In 1891 he took over the management of the Victorian Creamery and Butter Company which folded in 1895 after Crawford had left. A Royal Commission found irregularities in the accounts of the company, and although no official blame or charges were laid against Crawford his reputation was said to be irreversibly damaged. From 1896 to around 1920 Alexander Crawford worked for the Western Australian Bureau of Agriculture. As part of this position he was appointed chief-inspector under the Rabbit and Vermin Acts and travelled across the outback checking the rabbit proof fences. He was also an active member of the Wesley Church in William Street Perth and is commemorated there by a plaque.

Chronology
1881Part-owner of Moorarrie sheep run
1888 - 1890Manager of the travelling dairy throughout Victoria
1891 - c. 1895Manager of the Victorian Creamery and Butter Co.
1896Bureau of Agriculture in Perth
1899 - Councillor of the Royal Agriculture Society of Western Australia
1903 - 1905Acting Director of the Bureau of Agriculture in Perth
1905 - c. 1908Acting Undersecretary for the Bureau of Agriculture in Perth
1909 - 1919Chief Inspector under the Rabbit and Vermin Acts
1916President of the Royal Agriculture Society of Western Australia

 

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Structure based on ISAAR(CPF) - click here for an explanation of the fields.Prepared by: McCarthy, G.J.
Created: 20 October 1993
Modified: 24 August 2005

Published by The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007
Originally published 1994-1999 by Australian Science Archives Project, 1999-2006 by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
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Updated: 26 February 2007
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P001022b.htm

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