[Index]
Alexander James GIBSON (1876 - 1960)
Children Self + Spouses Parents Grandparents Greatgrandparents
Alexander Roy Morris GIBSON (1903 - 1975)
Violet Marion Hall GIBSON (1907 - 1989)
Roger Barraclough GIBSON (1909 - 1977)
Kitty Desmond GIBSON (1919 - )
Alexander James GIBSON (1876 - 1960)

+

Marion Ellen (Mimi) HITCHMAN (1880 - 1947)

Ann Muriel DENT
Edward Morris GIBSON











Martha JAMES












b. 18 Dec 1876 at London, Middlesex, England
m. (1) 11 Mar 1902 Marion Ellen (Mimi) HITCHMAN (1880 - 1947) at Gordon, New South Wales, Australia
m. (2) 12 Oct 1954 Ann Muriel DENT at Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
d. 02 Dec 1960 at Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia aged 83
Near Relatives of Alexander James GIBSON (1876 - 1960)
Relationship Person Born Birth Place Died Death Place Age
Father in Law Thomas Joseph HITCHMAN 18 Apr 1855 Wheatley, Oxfordshire, England 1947 North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 92
Mother in Law Kate JONES 01 Aug 1859 Paddington, New South Wales, Australia 1945 North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 86

Father Edward Morris GIBSON
Mother Martha JAMES

Self Alexander James GIBSON 18 Dec 1876 London, Middlesex, England 02 Dec 1960 Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia 83

Wife Marion Ellen (Mimi) HITCHMAN 1880 Concord, New South Wales, Australia 1947 North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 67
Wife Ann Muriel DENT

Son Alexander Roy Morris GIBSON 18 Dec 1903 St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia 08 Dec 1975 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 71
Daughter Violet Marion Hall GIBSON 01 Dec 1907 Mosman, New South Wales, Australia 05 Sep 1989 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 81
Son Roger Barraclough GIBSON 30 May 1909 New South Wales, Australia 31 Dec 1977 Waverton, New South Wales, Australia 68
Daughter Kitty Desmond GIBSON 23 Mar 1919 Lindfield, New South Wales, Australia

Daughter in Law Jean Mary DUGUID 13 Dec 1904 Burwood, New South Wales, Australia 25 Dec 1993 89
Son in Law James Wearing SMITH 15 Feb 1901 Adelaide, SA, Australia 18 Feb 1975 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 74
Daughter in Law Myrna Rosamond McNaughten DICKEY 21 Mar 1910 London, Middlesex, England Jul 2003 93
Daughter in Law Marjorie Cecilia (Jenny) O'BRIEN
Son in Law William Henry BATHGATE 31 Jul 1914 Petersham, New South Wales, Australia 24 May 1994 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 79

Granddaughter Living or Recently Deceased
Granddaughter Living or Recently Deceased
Granddaughter Living or Recently Deceased
Grandson James Alexander Wearing SMITH 24 Oct 1936 17 Jan 1984 Kelmscott, Western Australia, Australia 47
Granddaughter Living or Recently Deceased
Granddaughter Living or Recently Deceased
Grandson Living or Recently Deceased
Granddaughter Elinor Marion BATHGATE 02 Sep 1952 New South Wales, Australia 09 Jan 1987 Killara, New South Wales, Australia 34

Nephew Thomas Frere NOSS
Niece Kathleen Alison NOSS 1918 New South Wales, Australia 1945 North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 27
Nephew Anthony Neville Wemyss HITCHMAN 1918 10 Jan 2006 Dee Why, New South Wales, Australia 88
Nephew Thomas Roy HITCHMAN abt 1920 23 Mar 2003 Pennant Hills, New South Wales, Australia 83

Sister in Law Ida Muriel HITCHMAN 1882 Burwood, New South Wales, Australia 1975 New South Wales, Australia 93
Brother in Law Harold Roy HITCHMAN 28 Aug 1884 Leichhardt, New South Wales, Australia May 1970 Mosman, New South Wales, Australia 85
Events in Alexander James GIBSON (1876 - 1960)'s life
Date Age Event Place Notes Src
18 Dec 1876 Alexander James GIBSON was born London, Middlesex, England 2
11 Mar 1902 25 Married Marion Ellen (Mimi) HITCHMAN (aged 22) Gordon, New South Wales, Australia 2623/1902 2
18 Dec 1903 27 Birth of son Alexander Roy Morris GIBSON St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia 15832/1903 2
01 Dec 1907 30 Birth of daughter Violet Marion Hall GIBSON Mosman, New South Wales, Australia 2
30 May 1909 32 Birth of son Roger Barraclough GIBSON New South Wales, Australia 2
23 Mar 1919 42 Birth of daughter Kitty Desmond GIBSON Lindfield, New South Wales, Australia 2
1947 71 Death of wife Marion Ellen (Mimi) HITCHMAN (aged 67) North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Note 1
12 Oct 1954 77 Married Ann Muriel DENT Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia 22252/1954 2
02 Dec 1960 83 Alexander James GIBSON died Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia 32814/1960 2
Note 1: 5716/1947 Louisa Ellen Florence
Personal Notes:
GIBSON, ALEXANDER JAMES (1876-1960), engineer, was born on 18 December 1876 at Hanover Square, London, son of Edward Morris Gibson, articled clerk and later solicitor, and his wife Martha, née James. He was educated at Alleyn's College of God's Gift (Dulwich College) and served an apprenticeship with the Thames Iron Works, Ship Building & Engineering Co. at Blackwall, London. An associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, London, from 1899, he went that year to Shanghai, China, with S. C. Farnham & Co., where he was again involved in shipbuilding and marine work. He served with the Shanghai Volunteers during the Boxer Rebellion.

Arriving in Sydney late in 1900, Gibson became a fitter at Mort's Dock & Engineering Co. On 11 March 1902 at St John's Church of England, Gordon, he married Marion Ellen Florence Hitchman (d.1947). Encouraged by Professor W. H. Warren, in 1903 he applied successfully for the post of assistant lecturer in engineering building and design at the University of Sydney. In 1910 he was appointed foundation professor of engineering in the University of Queensland; he designed and built the engineering laboratories, then the finest in Australia.

Commissioned in the Corps of Australian Engineers in 1904, Gibson transferred to the Australian Intelligence Corps in 1908 and was promoted captain in 1910. From August 1914 he was assistant censor and temporary censor in Brisbane. In 1917 he served in England as temporary major working on Professor (Sir) Henry Barraclough's munitions scheme for the Commonwealth Department of Defence. Returning to Australia he was acting general manager and chief engineer of the Australian Arsenal in 1918.

In January 1919 Gibson resigned his chair at the University of Queensland to become superintendent of construction at the Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd's steelworks at Newcastle, New South Wales. In 1922 he went into partnership with Sir George Julius and William Poole, to form the consulting engineering firm of Julius, Poole & Gibson, Sydney; he was senior partner for many years. In 1933-34 he chaired the technical education commission appointed by (Sir) Bertram Stevens, and in 1938 visited London to discuss safety measures for Burrinjuck Dam. He was later chairman of the Advisory Council of Sydney Technical College. He helped D. H. Drummond with the Technical Education Act, 1940; it was nullified by the (Sir William) McKell government the following year.

In February 1931 Gibson had founded and was president of the All for Australia League, which aimed at 'purging politics' and called for unity; it attacked political parties and 'inept Parliaments'. After the dismissal of the premier J. T. Lang by Governor Sir Philip Game in 1932, the league merged with the United Australia Party. Ten years later Lang described Gibson as 'a sinister figure', who had 'sold out' to Stevens at the price of becoming consulting engineer to the government, and accused him of having put the government to unnecessary expenditure on Burrinjuck Dam. The charges were never substantiated.

Awarded an honorary M.E. by the University of Queensland in 1919, Gibson was member of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, its president in 1932, and P. N. Russell medallist in 1940. In 1934-39 he was a fellow of the Senate of the University of Sydney and in 1940-48 chairman of the Standards Association of Australia. He also served on the council of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and on the board of Prince Henry Hospital, Sydney; he was honorary consultant to Sydney Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children. He was a member of the University and New South Wales clubs.

On 12 October 1954 Gibson married at Chatswood, Sydney, Ann Muriel Dent of Rockhampton, Queensland. Predeceased by her he died at Cammeray, Sydney, on 2 December 1960 and was cremated with Anglican rites. He was survived by two sons and two daughters of his first marriage. His estate was valued for probate at £38,000.

Select Bibliography

University of Sydney, School of Civil Engineering, Acta Structorum, Mar 1960; JRAHS, 50 (1964), pt 4, p 277; JRAHS, 57 (1971), pt 2, p 160; Sydney Morning Herald, 13, 17 Feb, 10, 21 Mar 1931, 13 May, 5, 6 Nov 1942, 3 Dec 1960; MP 1044/1, 18/0458 (National Archives of Australia).

Author: J. M. Antill

Print Publication Details: J. M. Antill, 'Gibson, Alexander James (1876 - 1960)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8, Melbourne University Press, 1981, p. 651.
Source References:
2. Type: Book, Abbr: Devon to Down Under, Title: Devon to Down Under, Auth: Bettie Elworthy, Publ: Bookbound, Date: 1997
- Reference = 30 (Birth)
- Reference = 30 (Notes)
- Reference = 32 (Death)
- Reference = 30 (Marriage)
- Reference = 32 (Marriage)

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