Thomas Burr

Thomas Burr (1813–1866), surveyor and mine manager, was a British explorer and Deputy Surveyor General of South Australia 1839–46.

Born 1813 in England, probably at Kent, Thomas Burr's father was George Dominicus Burr (1786–1855), an esteemed Professor of Mathematics at Sandhurst military college for forty years, 1813–53.

Burr embarked on survey and landscape studies under his father, who also taught military surveying. He began survey work in about 1829, subsequently being employed as a civil engineer in London. During that time he married and began a family. Burr was engaged upon surveys under the Tithe Commutation Act 1836 when, upon the recommendation of E.C. Frome, who had been appointed Surveyor General of South Australia a few weeks earlier, he was appointed to the post of Deputy Surveyor General of South Australia.

Burr took office at London on 29 June 1839, sailing with his family aboard the barque Cleveland on 24 July, but did not reach Port Adelaide until 18 December 1839 to begin active duty. Upon arrival Burr found he had a rival. Locally, Governor George Gawler had appointed B.T. Finniss to the same post on 15 September 1839, while Burr was still on the high seas. Gawler decided that for the time being the two men would share the post – there was plenty of survey work to be done in the nascent colony. One urgent survey task undertaken by Burr was the fixing of posts defining the street corners and footways of Adelaide.

Burr's initiation into exploration came about just four months after arriving in Australia. In April 1840 26-year-old Burr accompanied Governor Gawler and explorer John Hill on the first European exploration of the east coast of Eyre Peninsula from Port Lincoln, past Franklin Harbour (Cowell), to near Whyalla. Upon Gawler's instruction, Burr's task was to prepare the related notes and charts. Along the way Gawler named a headland Cape Burr in his honour.

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