About
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In
1855
Charles
Todd
arrived
in
the
young
colony
of
South
Australia.
He
was
28
and
his
mind
was
full
of
the
new
sciences
and
technologies
that
were
changing
life
in
19th
century
Europe.
He
had
trained
with
the
best
at
Greenwich
in
England
and
in
Australia
he
was
presented
with
a
‘blank
canvas’ to implement his many ideas.
Until
recently,
he
was
best,
and
to
many,
only
known
for
his
work
with
the
Overland
Telegraph.
Though
this
was
a
tremendous
feat
of
management,
its
two
years
are
but
a
short
part
of
this
man’s
50
year
contribution
to
our
national
heritage.
However,
lesser
known
is
the
fact
he
worked
with
similar
bright
people
in
his
own
colony
and
the
others
on
the
continent
to
establish
the
foundations
of
astronomy.
meteorology,
electrical
engineering,
time
keeping,
surveying,
telegraphy and an efficient postal system.
He
was
also
influential
in
the
establishment
of
many
social
and
intellectual
institutions
of
the
Colony
including
two
of
South
Australia’s
universities,
its
Museum,
the
State
Library,
the
Art
Gallery
and
two
churches.
His
work
extended
to
a
national
level
and
it
influenced
some
key
issues
at
Federation.
In
many
ways,
Todd
could
stand
with
us
as
one
of
our
contemporaries
-
he
was
deeply
involved
in
building
and
running
the
infrastructure
of
a
science
and
technology
obsessed
society
like
ours.
He
would
also
be
a
familiar
figure
to
the
legion
of
MBA’s
dotted
throughout
our
enterprises.
Todd’s
story
is
replete
with
examples
of
his
capacity
to
think
strategically,
while
dealing
with
the
tactical
issues
of
running
bureaucracies,
networking,
managing
resources
and
providing
the
leadership
required
to
achieve
visionary
outcomes
for
Australia.
Any
senior
civil
servant
who
survived
the
administrations
of
22
Premiers
and
completed
50
years
of
public
service
with
his
envious
reputation
fully
intact
could
run
a Masters course or two in a modern business school.
What
makes
Todd
really
endearing
to
his
researchers
and
biographers
is
his
affability.
Though
it’s
tempting
to
dismiss
reports
of
his
employees’
admiration
for
their
leader,
attributing
this
to
the
rose
coloured
hue
of
fond
memories,
it
is
impossible
to
ignore
the
many
flattering
reports
found
in
news
articles
of
his
day.
There
is
no
doubt
that
the
Adelaide
Newspaper
of
record,
the
South
Australian
Register,
was
enthralled
with
the
man
in
his
latter
years
with
many
favourable
reports
of
his
activities.
By
the
time
of
his
death
in
late
January
1910,
he
was
a
national
treasure.
But
even
at
that
final
point,
the
measure
of
the
man
was
his
request
that
his
funeral
cortege
was
not
to
proceed
down
King
William
Street
as
was
the
tradition,
since
this
would
disturb
the
rhythm
of
the
city.
Instead,
mourners
proceeded
directly
to
North
Road
Cemetery
with
minimal
disturbance
to
the
daily
endeavours of his fellow citizens.
Consisting
of
members
from
six
science
and
technology
socities
in
South
Australia,
the
group
formed
in
2012
to
mount
the
Sir
Charles
Todd
Symposium.
The
Symposium
marked
a
gathering
of
Todd
family
descendants
in
Adeliade.
Covering
astronomy,
meteorology,
electrical
engineering,
surveying,
telecommunications
and
the
postal
system,
Symposium
speakers
recognised
the
importance
of
Todd
in
establishing
each
of
their
disciplines.
However,
no
one
had
a
comprehensive
view
of
this
pioneer
and
the
Symposium
was
the
first
known
attempt
to
bring
the
main
treads
of
the
story
together.
The
Symposium
attracted
a
sellout
audience
of
150
“Todd-o-
philes”
and
was
a
great
success
for
speakers
and
audience
alike.
Realising
that
there
was
an
even
more
comprehensive
story
to
reveal,
the
speakers
continued
their
collaboration.
The
first
vehicle
for
this
work
was
the
creation
of
a
mobile
app
aimed
at
the
general
public.
An
attendee
of
the
Symposium
(Roger
Edmonds)
donated
his
expertise
in
online
education
systems
to
support
the
work.
The
app
was
launched
in
May
2014
at
the
Royal
Institute
Australia
(RiAus),
fittingly
on
the
125
anniversary
of
Todd’s
accession
to
the
original
Royal
Institute in England.
The
third
major
endeavour
of
the
Research
Group
now
occupies
it
with
the
ongoing
construction
of
an
online
research
centre,
containing
copious
reference
material
for
those
interested
in
the
professional
and
civic
life
of
Charles
Todd.
In
the
fullness
of
time
this
centre
is
expected
to
contain
upwards
of
3,000
documents.
All
documents
go
through
a
review
process
to
ensure
their
veracity
before
inclusion
in
the
database.
A
find-and-retrieve
tool
is
available
to
identify
documents relevant to specified search criteria.
In
parallel
with
the
online
research
presence,
this
website
has
been
created
to
act
as
an
entry
point
to
all
the
work
of
the
Committee members relating to Sir Charles Todd.
DISCLAIMER
The
full
story
of
Charles
Todd
has
is
a
story
waiting
to
be
told.
The
Research
Group
is
aware
that
they
will
not
see
its
full
expanse,
thus,
this
website
and
its
links
do
not
detail
the
final
and authoritative account.
ABOUT
Charles Todd Research Group
Who was Charles Todd?
