CYO-Connor

Anyone who has learned about early West Australian history has heard the tale of CYO Connor, a talented and ill-fated engineer that called Perth home.

CYO Connor was an engineer from the very early days of West Australian history. Starting off as a strapping young Irish lad helping with the construction of railways. He then moved on to the North island of New Zealand to survey in Canterbury. Over the course of years he ended up with many appointments and responsibilities over the engineering and surveying of railways and harbours. After the Kiwi’s reorganisation led him to be a measly Marine Engineer rather than departmental head, he looked for better job opportunities.

John Forest, our first Premier, offered a Job to O’Connor. Although I don't have the exact records for the telegram, I imagine they went like this: 

O'Connor: “What is my job STOP Railways, Harbours, or Roads? STOP” 

Forest: “Yes STOP” 

O'Connor's first mission, if he chose to accept it or not, was a demand by Forrest to build the Fremantle Harbour. That is right. He invented WA's most iconic port. The reason for this was to ensure big boats like those from the Orient Steam Navigation Co. which delivered mail were able to enter easily. The initial plans drawn were for an outer harbour to be built due to a believed menace of littoral sand travels. 

Forrest didn’t want to fork out the costs for that project, so O’Connor decided to look into the matter himself. Both by analysing existing data and creating his own through soundings and consultation, he concluded that sand won’t get everywhere. This led to him adjusting the design into a much more affordable version which like me and the discount section of IGA, attracted Forest's eye. 

Parliament was convinced by O'Connor's clear Ted X style presentation of the 800’000 pound, 8 year long proposal. Official construction began in 1892 and finished in 1897. The mountainous effort’s success was officially sealed on the 12th of September 1900 when the RMS Himalaya entered and birthed at Fremantle, harbouring mail. 

O'Connor also oversaw every little boy in Australia’s dream of increased rail networks across the country. Building rail from Northam to southern cross, the southwest, walkaway and Mullewa, and Coolgardie to Kalgoorlie among others.  His levels of responsibility also meant the man wielded power over transport policy, and used it to push for re-routes, plans, and upgrades to existing systems, albeit with some resistance.

 During his time as the train man he pushed for vast improvements to working conditions for his workers, his final report as general manager noting that the workers under his command were overworked, underpaid, and endured atrocious working conditions.

Of course O’Connor is known for something else. Laying a long pipe that led to his death. In an attempt to save Kalgoorlie from a water crisis O’Connor proposed building a 530 kilometer long pipe from the darling range to Coolgardie near Kal. He got engineering experts, the greatest engineering minds of their generation from London to approve of the project's viability, but local media was still vehemently critical of the project.

 It took two full years before Forest was able to convince the parliament of this plans viability, and delays regarding pipe delivery plagued the initial project. After Forest left state politics to enter the newly made federal government the project went at risk as an unstable state government came into play. 

At this point the media got real vicious, as it tends to do to people they do not like. The Sunday Times published vicious and defamatory attacks to such a degree that is drove O’Connor to suicide. Completely unfounded too. In reference to O’Connor’s pipe project, in spite of him presenting many facts on how it works, in spite of it being verified as practical by some of the world's top engineers, and in spite of it WORKING a few years later they wrote:

“This Shire Engineer from New Zealand has absolutely flourished on palm grease, this man has exhibited such gross blundering, or something worse in his management of great public works, that it is by no means exaggeration that he has robbed the taxpayers of this State out of millions” 

Heading off to fix a small leak in the pipe at Chidlow’s Well, he rode along the Fremantle beach past the new harbour and down to Robb Jetty. It was at Robb Jetty on the 10th of march 1902 where he rode his horse into the sea, never to return, shooting himself in the head with a revolver as he sank into the ocean. 

This was the note he left in his wake: "The Coolgardie Scheme is alright and I could finish it if I got a chance and protection from misrepresentation but there is no hope of that now and it is better that it should be given to some entirely new man to do who will be untrammeled by prior responsibility".

This Bronze statue built in his honour was created by Pietro Porcelli, and is served well placed next to the harbour O’Connor designed.