Sir William and Lady Hudson - Australian Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

April 27th 2011 celebrates 115 years since the birth of Sir William Hudson. Sir William is known as the first Commissioner of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme and for building the Scheme on budget, a phenomena rarely achieved by any government project.
Sir William, son of a doctor, was born at Nelson on the south island of New Zealand. Upon matriculation from Nelson College he departed New Zealand in 1914 to study engineering at university in London. Upon completing the first two years he enlisted in the 4th Yorkshire Regiment. After serving two and a half months he suffered a wound to his right thigh at Bullecourt. Upon recovery he returned to train as a tank driver in the London Regiment. In 1920 he completed his engineering degree matriculating with honours and then commenced post graduate studies in hydro-electric engineering at Grenoble.
Sir William’s career started with Sir W. G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd in England. In 1922 he returned to New Zealand working for the Public Works Department on railway construction and later on the Mangahao hydro-electric scheme. From 1924 to 1927 he joined Armstrong Whitworth working on construction of the Arapuni Dam. Whilst working on this project he met Annie Eileen Trotter whom he married in 1926. Lady Hudson a beautiful and talented lady complimented Sir William’s abilities and work ethic.
In 1927 Sir William moved to New South Wales, Australia working for the Public Works Department then the Metropolitan Water Sewage and Drainage Board as supervising engineer of the Nepean Dam. Then in 1931 he returned to London to work for Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners as Engineer-in-Charge on Galloway power scheme in Scotland. Following completion of the Galloway scheme Sir William returned to Australian in 1937 to work for the Metropolitan Water Sewage and Drainage Board of Sydney firstly as the Resident Engineer on the construction of the Woronora dam, later as the Inspecting Engineer in head office and then much later as Chief Construction Engineer for the Captain Cook dock.
Fifteen months after becoming Engineering-in-Chief of Sydney Water Board, Sir William was made Commissioner of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme. During his time as Commissioner, Sir William was instrumental in aspects that today have now become common place such as: the use of contractors and tendering, innovative construction methods such as rock bolting, effective industrial relations, effective use of public relations, soil conservation, workplace safety and setting up a communications network across the Scheme.
Sir William Hudson was a devoted to the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme often working well into the night. The success of the Scheme is due to Sir Williams commitment and dedication to the project. Sir William retired as Commissioner in 1967 at the age of 71. Upon retirement he took up opportunities with the Road Safety Council of NSW and National Safety Council of Australia, noting Sir William introduced the first compulsory use of vehicle safety belts whilst Commissioner of Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority in the 1950’s. In his retirement he also arbitrated a number of engineering disputes.
In his private life Sir William enjoyed yachting, bush walking and astronomy. He was extremely well respected by all who knew him. Recently his grand daughter Lucy Unger said Sir William was not comfortable with the notoriety of his position and was more comfortable being with the common man. This is typified in his daughter Margaret Unger’s book “Voices from the Snowy” where she indicates that every Christmas Sir William would enjoy going to all the remote areas of the Scheme having a Christmas drink and chat with his workers. Margaret Unger’s book was written after Sir William’s concern that as time progressed the wonderful stories of those who worked on the Scheme would be lost for all time. This book shows the true blood and guts story of the building of the Scheme, showing the difficulties that the first Commissioner faced and resolved.

Sir William was fond of two quotes which he had in his Snowy Office: “The man who once so wisely said ‘ be sure you’re right. Then go ahead.’ Might well have added this to wit- ‘ Be sure you’re wrong before you quit” and “Rules should be one’s servant, not one’s master”
Sir William made the dream of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme come true through his commitment and devotion, he died in Canberra on 12th December 1978. As per his wishes he was buried in Cooma near his beloved Snowy Mountains Scheme. In 1998 Lady Hudson’s ashes were interned with him. Sir William is survived by two daughters and six grandchildren.

Age/Event Date: 1896 till 1978 and 1905 till 1998 Type of Historic Marker: If other (please specify) Type of Historic Marker if other: Historic Grave Related Website: Not listed Historic Resources.: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please submit your visiting log with a picture of the object. Also include some interesting information about your visit.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   12/30/2018 Grahame Cookie visited it 10/16/2011 aussie_walkabout visited it

View all visits/logs