Joseph Brady

Joseph Brady (18 August 1828 – 8 July 1908) was an Irish born, civil engineer active in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, Australia, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, undertaking works on railways, water supplies and ports. Among his more important works were the Coliban Water Supply for Bendigo, and Melbourne Port improvements.

Early career

Joseph Brady was born on 18 August 1828 near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland. He worked on the English Tithe Commutation Survey in 1842–44 working with his father where he gained skills in field surveying and draftsmanship. He then became an assistant engineer to Charles B. Vignoles on railway surveys in Lincolnshire and Kent as well as working on the Skipton, Sedbergh and Lancaster railway.

Migration to Australia

Bradley migrated in 1850 aboard the Argyle to Sydney, Australia where he became a draftsman with the newly formed Sydney Railway Company, Brady returned to the Bendigo waterworks in 1871 to construct an additional reservoir, settling ponds and extend reticulation. In 1873 country water supplies were taken over by the Victorian government Water Supply Department under chief engineer, George Gordon (engineer) who appointed Brady as engineer for the Bendigo district of the Goulburn River supply. and 'Early railway construction in New South Wales' (1904–05) were published in the institution's Proceedings. he was a member of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria in 1858–9, and its successor the Royal Society of Victoria from 1860.

Personal life

Brady married Adelaide Sarah Keck, (the daughter of Henry Keck, the governor of Darlinghurst gaol), at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, on 14 February 1854. they had seven surviving children. The eldest son, Lyndon Francis, moved to Western Australia where he was a pioneer of the timber business as manager with the Millar Karri and Jarrah Co. Georgina was the only daughter to marry, her husband, Edward Wardell, was master of the Melbourne Mint. Brady died on 8 July 1908 at his home, 'Allowah', in Staniland Grove, Elsternwick.

Brady was also an artist, with a number of watercolours attributed to him including a fine rendering of the first Princes Bridge in Melbourne.

Legacy The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney hold a shirt said to have belonged to Brady.

In 1868, the mayor and citizens of Dalby presented Brady with a testimonial and an inscribed silver claret jug (now in the possession of a grandson in Adelaide).

The Joseph Brady Memorial Public Lecture is held in his honour, organised by Engineers Australia.

Joseph Brady Park at 240 Riverside Avene, Barellan Point in Ipswich, Queensland, is named after him. Brady built a training wall at this site where the Bremer River flowed into the Brisbane River to control the silt built-up in the navigation channels. There is a plaque commemorating Brady in the park.