Bill Sear (1900-1986)

National Mapping Chief Cartographer 1950-1965

Prepared by Laurie McLean June 2017

Bill Sear circa 1965.

(extracted from an XNatmap image)

William James Sear was born on 5 July 1900 at Petersham in inner south western Sydney.  He was the son of William Sear and his wife Helen (Nellie) née Brown.  In the early 1900s Bill’s parents resided at 3 Warwick Street Stansmore but by 1915 they had moved to 36 Queen Street Ashfield.

On 23 February 1917, Bill joined the New South Wales Lands Department as a cadet draftsman in the Miscellaneous and Noting Branch on a salary of £95 per annum.  In May 1918, Bill made an initial application to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force at the Central Enlisting Depot in Sydney’s Hyde Park.  At that time Bill stated his occupation was a cadet draftsman and that he had 4 years’ experience as a cadet in the 39th Infantry Battalion.

Bill eventually enlisted in the AIF on 20 September 1918 after attaining the age of 18 years.  At that time he stated his occupation as university student and that he was serving with the Sydney University Company.

(The University Volunteer Rifle Corps was raised in November 1900 as part of the colonial military forces of New South Wales.  In 1903, the Corps was renamed as the Sydney University Scouts; by then it comprised two rifle companies.  When boyhood conscription was introduced in 1911, the Scouts became a militia battalion and its numbers increased as all eligible undergraduates of the University were drafted into it.  During World War I, over 60 per cent of the Scouts enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force.  In mid-1918 a University Company was recruited from students at the University of Sydney for active service in the AIF.  However, hostilities on the Western Front had ceased before the Company was mobilised for service.)

On 23 September 1918, Bill Sear was posted to the Recruit M and D Depot at Liverpool as a member of the Composite Battalion.  He was discharged with the rank of private on 18 November 1918 (a week after the Armistice was signed): as a consequence of expiration of period of enlistment.  (Members of the Australian Imperial Force in both World Wars were not permanent soldiers.  Instead they signed up for the duration of hostilities and for some period thereafter.)

(John Noble Core Rogers, a future Commonwealth Surveyor General, Director of National Mapping and Chairman of the National Mapping Council had been posted to the Composite Battalion at Liverpool soon after enlisting in June 1918.  Jack Rogers was also discharged on 18 November 1918.)

It appears that after his brief enlistment in the AIF, Bill Sear returned to the Lands Department and to his university studies.  In 1921, he graduated with a Bachelor of Economics degree from Sydney University.  By 1 June 1923, Bill was a draftsman in the Miscellaneous Compiling Branch of the New South Wales Lands Department on a salary of £286 per annum.

In 1925, Bill Sear and Lydia Ethel Marks were married at Ashfield.  Bill and Lydia were to have three daughters: Merla Laurina, Alleyne and Beverley Anne.

It appears that at some time in the later part of the 1920s, Bill Sear left the Lands Department.  On electoral rolls for 1930 and 1933 he and Lydia are listed as residing at 39 Maher Street Hurstville with Bill being occupied as a casemaker and Lydia being engaged in home duties.

On 6 June 1933, Bill was appointed to the Commonwealth Public Service in Canberra.  Bill was firstly employed by the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics which had been established under the Census and Statistics Act in 1905.  Initially the Bureau was located in Melbourne and was attached to the Department of Home Affairs.  For a period in the 1920s, the Bureau was located in the Rialto Building at 497 Collins Street.  But in 1928 the Bureau was relocated to Canberra and in 1932 it moved to the Treasury portfolio.

According to electoral roll entries, in 1935 Bill and Lydia Sear were listed as residing in Paterson Street Ainslie but by 1937 they were listed as residing at Foveaux Street Ainslie.  On both rolls Bill was occupied as a draftsman and Lydia was engaged in home duties.  17 Foveaux Street was to remain the Sear family home until Bill required nursing home care late in his life.

Bill Sear served again with the Australian Army during World War II.  He enlisted in Canberra on 12 July 1942 when 42 years of age.  He served part-time as a sergeant with the 21st Battalion of the Volunteer Defence Corps until discharged on 30 September 1945.

In 1945, as a Department of the Interior officer, Bill Sear was one of around 30 people who attended a major conference on the future direction and coordinating arrangements for Australia’s post-war topographic mapping and geodetic survey activities.  This conference was held in the Senate committee rooms at Parliament House, Canberra during 15-19 January 1945.  It was chaired by Frederick Marshall Johnston as Commonwealth Surveyor General and the conference secretary was Jack Rogers.

Recommendations arising from this conference included that a national approach to the mapping of Australia be adopted.  This approach was to be coordinated by a National Mapping Council.  The new Council was to be chaired by the Commonwealth Surveyor General who would need to be assisted by a deputy.  Prime Minister John Curtin concurred with these recommendations.

By March 1945, Curtin had obtained the agreement of the State Premiers to a coordinated national mapping program and the formation of a National Mapping Council.  Prime Minister Curtin announced on Tuesday 6 March 1945 that there was full Cabinet approval for the establishment of a National Mapping Council (Campbell, 2008).  Thus the remit for National Mapping was put in place.  (Sadly, John Curtin died in the early hours of 5 July 1945, at age 60 years.)

As part of the Commonwealth’s post-World War II national mapping initiative, the Commonwealth Surveyor General and Chief Property Officer, Frederick Marshall Johnston (1885-1963) was given the additional roles of Director of National Mapping and Chairman of the National Mapping Council.

To assist with Johnston’s mapping responsibilities, former Australian Survey Corps officer Bruce Philip Lambert (1912-1990) was appointed as Deputy Director of National Mapping on 21 March 1946.

Freddie Johnston retired on 28 March 1949. On 24 March 1949, John Noble Core Rogers (1898-1971) was appointed as the Commonwealth Surveyor General and as the second Director of National Mapping and Chairman of the National Mapping Council.  Following 31 May 1951 restructuring within the Department of the Interior, a separate position of Director of National Mapping was created in the Commonwealth Public Service and the Prime Minister and Premiers agreed to this officer taking over as Chairman of the National Mapping Council.  Jack Rogers remained a member of the National Mapping Council as the Commonwealth Surveyor General until he retired from the Commonwealth Public Service in 1963.

In 1951 Bruce Lambert (later Dr BP Lambert OBE) became the third Director of National Mapping and Chairman of the National Mapping Council.  Bruce held these positions until he retired in 1977.  Thus during his National Mapping career from 1947 to 1965, Bill Sear served under Bruce Lambert as either Deputy Director or Director of National Mapping.

In a list of Permanent Officers of the Commonwealth Service on 30 June 1946, WJ Sear was included as a draftsman grade 2 in the Drafting and Plan Printing Section of the Property and Survey Branch of the Department of the Interior on a salary of £598 per annum.  He had been at that salary point since 1 July 1938 (Commonwealth of Australia, 1948).

On 16 June 1947, Bill Sear was promoted to the newly created position of senior draftsman (cartographic) with in the National Mapping Section of the Property and Survey Branch of the Department of the Interior with a salary in the range of £558 to £630 per annum.  In this position, Bill’s duties were to supervise (under the direction of the chief cartographer) the compilation and drawing of topographical and contour maps and plans (Commonwealth of Australia, 1947).

The new National Mapping Section was one of the results of the greater national priority then given to the mapping of Australia as the Commonwealth Government responded to the recommendations of the 1945 conference.

In 1947, the National Mapping Section was located at the Acton Offices in Lennox Crossing, Acton; see map and image below.  The Lennox Crossing thoughfare still runs down the present day Acton Peninsula.  However, the actual crossing over the Molonglo River was inundated when the Scrivener Dam was constructed across the Molonglo River lower down-stream between 1960 and 1964 to create Lake Burley Griffin.

Extract from National Roads and Motorists’ Association Canberra District Map 1947.

(From National Library of Australia: Map G8984:C3P2 1947.)

Commonwealth Bank and Acton Offices circa 1927.

(National Library of Australia Call Number PIC/15114 LOC Box PIC/15114.)

During July – August 1947, Bill Sear was one of the Australian attendees at the Conference of British Commonwealth Survey Officers that was held in London.  Now a global four-yearly event for all national mapping organisations, the Conference of Commonwealth Survey Officers commenced in 1928 as the Empire Conference of Survey Officers.  This forum was later known as the Cambridge Conference as it was held there for many years.

On 16 March 1950, Bill Sear was promoted to the position of chief cartographer in the Cartographic Sub-section of the National Mapping Section within the Property and Survey Branch of the Department of the Interior.  The salary range for this position was £764 to £854 per annum.  This promotion was to fill the vacancy that arose from the retirement of Edward Percival Bayliss. As chief cartographer, Bill Sear’s responsibilities were to organise, direct, supervise and edit the work of the Cartographic Sub-section (Commonwealth of Australia, 1950A).

Ted Bayliss was born on 21 April 1887.  He was appointed to the Commonwealth Public Service on 20 December 1927 and subsequently appointed as a cartographer on 1 September 1938 (Commonwealth of Australia, 1948).  During January 1945, Ted also attended the Parliament House conference in Canberra that recommended the formation of a National Mapping Council and other national mapping initiatives.

On 10 April 1947, Ted was promoted to the newly created position of chief cartographer in the Cartographic Sub-section, National Mapping Section of the Department of the Interior.  The salary of the position was then in the range of £648 to £720 per annum (Commonwealth of Australia, 1947).

Ted Bayliss was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and an internationally renowned cartographer who was well known for his work on the International Map of the World series, a 1939 map of Antarctica with John Stanley Cumpston, BA LLB (1909-1986), a 10 foot by 6 foot map of the Northern Territory and numerous other cartographic works.  Mt Bayliss in Mac Robertson Land was named for Ted’s Antarctic mapping work.

Ted retired as chief cartographer on 25 January 1950 at age 62 years (Commonwealth of Australia, 1950).  After retirement Ted and his wife continued to live at 34 Coranderrk Street Reid.  Sadly Ted Bayliss died in Canberra on 3 October 1957 at age 70 years.  He was survived by his wife Lavinia and their daughter Doris.

On 6 November 1952, Bill Sear was again promoted (due to a reclassification of his position) to chief cartographer, third division, Cartographic Sub-section, National Mapping Section, Department of the Interior (with a salary range now of £1,214 to £1,304 per annum) (Commonwealth of Australia, 1952).

In this reclassified position as chief cartographer, Bill was responsible for organising and supervising the activities of his sub-section in connection with the compiling, drawing, preparing and publishing of general topographic, geographic and aeronautic maps required for Commonwealth purposes or of a national character (Commonwealth of Australia, 1952).

On 24 May 1956, Prime Minister Robert Menzies informed the House of Representatives that the national mapping functions in the Department of the Interior were to be transferred to the Department of National Development (see Appendix A). Subsequently, in Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No 43 of 9 August 1956 (on page 2459) all existing third and fourth division positions in the National Mapping Section of the Department of the Interior were abolished.  Further, in Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No 47 of 16 August 1956 (on page 2527) a new position of Director of National Mapping was created in the second division within the Division of National Mapping in the Department of National Development with a salary in the range of £2,383 to £2,713 per annum.  Also, all other National Mapping Section third and fourth division positions previously abolished in the Department of the Interior were recreated with equal division, designation, classification and location in the Division of National Mapping.

In 1962, National Mapping’s main Canberra office was relocated to Derwent House at 28 University Ave on the west side of the Civic Centre.  The main office remained there until after Bill Sear’s retirement.

Bill Sear was an active member of the Australian Institute of Cartographers and became an honorary member of that Institute after his retirement.  Bill is known to have written at least three technical papers on mapping related-topics that were later published in professional journals. Bill’s paper on Topographic Map Drawing was published in The Australian Surveyor in December 1958.  His paper on the various maps published in Australia at 1:1 million scale, One in a Million, was published in Cartography (the journal of the Australian Institute of Cartographers) in 1964.  After Bill had retired, his paper The Projection Story was published in Cartography in May 1967.

Bill Sear retired in early July 1965, after some 48 years in his profession and just a few days before his 65th birthday.  At that time, retirement at 65 years of age was compulsory in the Commonwealth Public Service.  Bill’s retirement was reported in The Canberra Times on Saturday 3 July 1965.  His retirement function on 2 July 1965 was attended by Nat Map officers and by officers of other Government departments.  Nat Map’s Director Bruce Lambert, made a presentation to Bill on behalf of the staff.  In his reply Bill outlined changes in mapping during his working life and expressed some regret that modern methods resulted in the loss of some manual skills associated with draftsmanship (please refer to Appendix B for photographs taken on this occasion).

Bill and Lydia Sear continued to reside at 17 Foveaux Street Ainslie after Bill’s retirement from Nat Map.

Sadly, Bill Sear died on 21 September 1986 at the Queanbeyan Private Nursing Home at 7 Campbell Street Queanbeyan; he was 86 years of age.  Bill was survived by Lydia his wife of over 60 years and by their daughters Merla, Alleyne and Beverley as well as their respective spouses and by grandchildren and great grandchildren.

References

Anonymous (1957), Edward Percival Bayliss Death Notice, in The Canberra Times, Saturday 5 October 1957, page 8, Family Notices; accessed from the National Library of Australia, Canberra, Trove search service at: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/91239165

Anonymous (1965), Mapping Chief Retires, an article on WJ Sear in The Canberra Times, Saturday 3 July 1965, page 10; accessed from the National Library of Australia, Canberra, Trove search service at: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/105758948

Anonymous (1986), William James Sear, Death Notice in The Canberra Times, Wednesday 24 September 1986, page 33; accessed from the National Library of Australia, Canberra, Trove search service at: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131840280?

Anonymous (2016), William James Sear entry in the Book of Remembrance on the Beyond 1914 - The University of Sydney and the Great War database; accessed from The Sydney University website at:

http://beyond1914.sydney.edu.au/profile/5358/william-james-sear

Australian Antarctic Data Centre (undated), Mount Bayliss entry in Australian Antarctic Gazetteer, obtained from data search accessed from: https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/

Australian Electoral Commission (various dates), Searches of entries for William James Sear and Lydia Ethel Sear on various electoral rolls; accessed from the Ancestry website at: https://www.ancestry.com.au/

Australian Marriage Index (undated), Marriage index entry for William James Sear and Lydia Ethel Marks at Ashfield in 1925, Registration Number 989; accessed from the Australian Marriage Index 1788-1950 an online database on the Ancestry website at: https://www.ancestry.com.au/

Campbell, Heather (2008), Tuesday 6 March 1945 in 1945 Prime Minister from Diary of a Labor Man 1917-1945, published by John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library; accessed from the Curtin University website at: http://john.curtin.edu.au/diary/primeminister/1945.html

Commonwealth of Australia (1947), Bayliss, Edward Percival listing in Promotions, Department of the Interior, promulgated in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No 70, Thursday 10 April 1947, page 1115; published for the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia by LF Johnston, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra; accessed from the Australian Government, Federal Register of Legislation at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/content/HistoricGazettes1947

Commonwealth of Australia (1947), Sear, William James, listing in Promotions, Department of the Interior, promulgated in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No 105, 19 June; 1947, page 1643; published for the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia by LF Johnston, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra; accessed from the Australian Government, Federal Register of Legislation at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/content/HistoricGazettes1947

Commonwealth of Australia (1948), Bayliss, EP and Sear, WJ listings within Permanent Officers of the Commonwealth Service on 30 June 1946, Department of the Interior, promulgated in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, Issue No 1, Friday 2 January 1948, page 51, published for the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia by LF Johnston, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra; accessed from the National Library of Australia, Canberra, Trove search service at: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232812595/25109265

Commonwealth of Australia (1950), Edward Percival Bayliss retirement, Department of the Interior, promulgated in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No 10, Thursday 16 February 1950, page 394; published for the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia by LF Johnston, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra; accessed from the Australian Government, Federal Register of Legislation at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/content/HistoricGazettes1950

Commonwealth of Australia (1950A), Sear, William James, listing in Promotions, Department of the Interior, promulgated in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No: 14, Thursday 16 March 1950, page 639; published for the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia by LF Johnston, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra; accessed from the Australian Government, Federal Register of Legislation at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/content/HistoricGazettes1950

Commonwealth of Australia (1952), Sear, William James, listing in Promotions, Department of the Interior, promulgated in Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No: 74, Thursday 8 November 1952, page 4301; published for the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia by LF Johnston, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra; accessed from the Australian Government, Federal Register of Legislation at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/content/HistoricGazettes1952

Department of Veterans’ Affairs (undated), Sear, William James, World War II service details, an entry on World War II Nominal Roll; accessed from Department of Veterans’ Affairs website at:

http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?ServiceId=A&VeteranId=402267

Legislative Assembly New South Wales (1918 and 1924), WJ Sear entries on the Public Service Lists for 1918 and 1924; being lists of the officers employed at 30 June (in various years) under the Public Service Act, 1902; prepared by the Office of the Public Service Board; William Applegate Gullick, Government Printer (1918), Sydney.  Provided by the State Records Authority of New South Wales and accessed from the Ancestry website at: https://www.ancestry.com.au/

National Archives of Australia (undated), Sear, William James , Service Number N905548, World War I Service Record, series no B884, Control symbol N393925, Item barcode 8079665; accessed from a basic search of First Australian Imperial Forces personnel dossiers (World War I service records), date range 1914–20, Series number B2455, on the National Archives of Australia website at: http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/defence/service-records/army-wwi.aspx

Parliament of the Commonwealth-House of Representatives (1956), Statement by Mr RG Menzies, Prime Minister, in Official Hansard, No 21, 1956, Thursday 24 May 1956, page 2451, Twenty-Second Parliament, First Session-First Period; By Authority of the House of Representatives; accessed from Parliament of Australia website at: http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/hansard80/hansardr80/1956-05-24/toc_pdf/19560524_reps_22_hor10.pdf;fileType=application/pdf#search=%221950s%201956%22

Sear, William James (1958), Topographic Map Drawing, an article in The Australian Surveyor, Volume 17, No 4, December 1958, pp 239-251; the Institution of Surveyors, Australia, ISSN 00050326.

Sear, William James (1964), One in a Million, an article in Cartography 1964, Volume 5 Nos 3 and 4, pp 55-58; the Australian Institute of Cartographers, Canberra; ISSN 0069-0805.

Sear, William James (1967), The Projection Story, an article in Cartography, Volume 6, No 2 May 1967, pp 64-72; the Australian Institute of Cartographers, Canberra; ISSN 0069-0805.

Appendix A

Parliament of the Commonwealth

House of Representatives

Official Hansard, No 21, 1956

Thursday 24 May 1956 (page 2451)

Twenty-Second Parliament, First Session-First Period

By Authority of the House of Representatives

Ministerial Arrangements. Mr Menzies: As a part of the rearrangement of functions consequent upon the creation of the Department of Trade and the Department of Primary Industry, I have approved of the assumption of new responsibilities by the Minister for National Development (Senator Spooner).  The Minister will take over ministerial oversight of the work of the River Murray Commission.  He will replace the honourable member for Chisholm (Mr Kent Hughes) as president of the commission.  Dr LF Loder will remain as deputy commissioner and the staff of the commission will remain with him.

The second change is the transfer of the national mapping functions from the Department of the Interior to the Department of National Development, which I think is appropriate.  These changes will be effective immediately.  They will be the subject, in due course, of formal notification in an administrative arrangements order.

Appendix B

Bill Sear (centre) with GRL Rim Rimington (left) and BP Bruce Lambert (right) on the occasion of Bill’s retirement

and below

the office function for Bill

(XNatmap images)