James Thorneloe Smith

James Thorneloe Smith M.Inst C.E., (20 August 1825 – 14 March 1902) was an engineer and politician in colonial Queensland, a member of the Queensland Legislative Council.

Early life Smith was the son of the Rev. William Smith, Wesleyan minister, was born in Chester and educated at Woodhouse Grove School, near Leeds.

Engineering career Smith arrived in Victoria (Australia) in 1852, and entered the Civil Service of that colony as a railway surveyor in the same year. Upon a reduction being made in the staff, he went to Queensland in November 1862, and after twelve months' exploration in the interior, entered the Queensland Civil Service and surveyed the upper portion of the main range above Murphys Creek. In 1865 Mr. Smith constructed the railway from Toowoomba to Warwick, Queensland and afterwards became chief engineering surveyor of the Railway Surveys Department, and surveyed Cooktown and the interior with a view to possible railway construction.

Personal life Smith married Pauline Eliza Marks in Melbourne on 31 October 1852.