John Busby Biography

With free passages, Busby with his wife and family sailed from Leith in the Triton and arrived at Port Jackson in February 1824. The eldest son, George, followed later, after completing his medical studies in Edinburgh. On the voyage the ship stayed for some weeks at Hobart Town, where Busby made 'a survey for water and coals'. In February 1825 he was asked to explore Van Diemen's Land 'so far as Minerals and Geology are concerned, more especially with respect to Coals and Iron', but he went instead to New Zealand to refloat the government brig Elizabeth Henrietta aground at Goulburn Island; for this task he was given £300. In 1826 he went to report on coal deposits near Newcastle for the Australian Agricultural Co.

His most important work was the construction of Sydney's first regular water supply. He began the survey soon after arrival and his first report in June 1825 envisaged a supply pumped through iron pipes from the Lachlan Swamps (Centennial Park) to a reservoir in Hyde Park. This plan, to cost about £12,000, was apparently approved, but in January 1826 he submitted a second report which proposed the driving of a mine or bore for the whole distance of more than two miles (3.2 km); although this work would cost about £20,000, he believed it would ultimately prove cheaper in running costs. Surveyor General Oxley and William Dumaresq recommended the second scheme, and tunnelling commenced in September 1827. Busby declared that the project could be completed in three years, and as his initial engagement had expired he was engaged at a salary of £500, with his son Alexander as his assistant at £100. In October 1828 Busby's new salary was confirmed by the Colonial Office, but he was refused an assistant. In May 1831 he engaged his youngest son William to help him without government pay.

The slow progress of the scheme frequently aroused public criticism; the Colonial Office demanded a report on the project in 1832. Next year a committee of the Legislative Council inquired into it, and with no censure of Busby recommended that the remaining work on the tunnel be contracted out. Governor Bourke, however, attributed the delay to poor supervision of the convict workers and in 1834 reported to London that the proper direction of such unwilling labour was perhaps 'a duty incompatible with Mr Busby's age and infirmities', and that he had little confidence in Busby's professional skill. Accordingly he appointed William Busby as overseer to the work at £200 a year, the sum to be deducted from his father's salary.

Busby protested to London at this treatment, and at his own request continued to superintend the work without salary until his claim was decided. The Colonial Office approved Bourke's action, but in 1836 Busby's petition for an investigation was supported by a large number of Sydney residents. Before another committee of the Legislative Council in 1837, the year in which the scheme was completed, Busby claimed that if he had taken a contract for the project and had at his disposal proper equipment, skilled labourers and proper overseers, he could have finished it in half the time. Major Barney, whose professional opinion Bourke respected, testified that the work was 'very fairly done', considering the means available to Busby. The committee recommended that £1000 be paid to Busby as a gratuity in addition to his salary arrears.

In 1828 he had received a small grant on the Nepean River near Emu Plains and eight acres (3.2 ha) at Woolloomooloo Cove for a town house.

He retired at 72 to his 2000-acre (809 ha) property, Kirkton, at Lower Belford between Branxton and Singleton, which had been granted to his son James in 1830 and was subsequently made over to him prior to his retirement there in 1835.

He died and was subsequently buried at his Hunter River estate "Kirkton" on 10 May 1857 (Spot marked by SQUARE on map) (GPS Coordinates, -32.601957,151.305241).