William McMinn

Background

He was born in Newry, County Down, Ireland, a son of Joseph McMinn and his wife Martha McMinn (née Hamill), who with their large family emigrated to Adelaide on the Albatross, arriving in May 1850.

Education

After completing school, he was apprenticed to the architect James Macgeorge, but first practiced as a surveyor.

Career

He was involved in Boyle Travers Finniss"s ill-fated 1865 expedition to Northern Australia surveying the area around the Adelaide River. Following the desertion of a majority of the party to Singapore, McMinn and 5 others purchased a 23-foot open boat which they named the Forlorn Hope and sailed it 2,000 miles (3,200 km) to Champion Bay, Geraldton, Western Australia. He was later involved in the 1872 surveying of the Overland Telegraph from Portuguese Augusta to Darwin.

McMinn began practising as an architect in 1867, sometimes in partnership but usually independently.

He designed many grand private residences, but also designed or assisted in the design of many of Adelaide"s grand public buildings. McMinn married Mary Francis Muirhead at Glenelg in 1877, with whom he had two daughters.

He died in North Adelaide, aged forty, on 14 February 1884. A brother, Gilbert Rotherdale McMinn (1841–1924), also worked as a surveyor on the Overland Telegraph Lincolnshire, in February 1871 discovering Simpson"s Gap, which proved a better route for the line.

He served in various senior Public Service positions in the Northern Territory.

McMinn Street, Darwin is named for him. Assistant.

Connections

Partner:

Edward John Woods