Charles Yelverton O'Connor, (11 January 1843 – 10 March 1902), was an Irish engineer who is best known for his work in Western Australia, especially the construction of Fremantle Harbour, a small country house in Castletown Kilpatrick, a parish located between Kells and Ardee in the north of County Meath in Ireland. He was the third and youngest son and fourth child of John O'Connor, a farmer and company secretary, and his wife Mary Elizabeth, née O'Keefe. O'Connor was home-schooled by his aunt before being educated at Waterford Endowed School (also known as Bishop Foy's School). In 1859 he was apprenticed to John Chaloner Smith as a railway engineer. At the age of 21 he emigrated to New Zealand, and on 6 September 1866 was appointed assistant engineer for Canterbury Province under Edward Dobson.

His first task was the construction of the Otira Gorge section of the road over Arthur's Pass, so that the gold fields on the West Coast became easier to access. was probably O'Connor's greatest personal triumph, as his proposal to build the harbour within the entrance to the Swan River was contrary to previous expert advice that this was impracticable and that the construction would require constant dredging. Work commenced in 1892 in removing a limestone bar and sand shoals at the mouth of the Swan River and was successfully completed in 1903. On 4 May 1897 the first ocean-going steamer, the Sultan, berthed at South Quay (renamed Victoria Quay on 26 July 1901 in honour of the late Queen Victoria). At age 54, O'Connor travelled to London to be inducted a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.

More than 100 years of continued use of Fremantle Harbour by heavy shipping has erased all doubt concerning O'Connor's technical judgement.

Railways

O'Connor was engineer-in-chief and acting general manager of railways in Western Australia. Upgrades of existing lines and plans for new lines were made. The search for water for the Northam-Southern Cross route was initiated by O'Connor. He was in charge of the railway. John Forrest, always a supporter, had left Western Australian politics to become federal defence minister. Defamatory attacks by the press had wounded O'Connor. by its editor, Thomas Walker, continuing a campaign against O'Connor by Walker's deceased predecessor Frederick Vosper, is thought to have contributed to his death. Accusing O'Connor of corruption, it read, in part:

The government conducted an inquiry into the scheme and found no basis for the press accusations of corruption or misdemeanours on the part of O'Connor. Thomas Walker claimed vindication as the Royal Commission into the Coolgardie Water Scheme found "of the degree to which his [O'Connor's] implicit trust had been misplaced [in Thomas C. Hodgson, the Engineer in Charge of the Coolgardie Water Scheme] O'Connor took his own life on 10 March 1902 by shooting himself at the water's edge after riding his horse to Robb Jetty, south of Fremantle. Less than a year later, Forrest officially commissioned the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme.

Legacy

O'Connor's greatest legacies are the Fremantle Inner Harbour and the Goldfields Water supply Scheme, which ranks as one of Australia's greatest engineering achievements.

200px|thumb|right|[[Pietro Porcelli's statue of O'Connor, Fremantle Port. The statue faces north-east towards Fremantle Harbour.]]

The beach where O'Connor died was named after him and there is also a statue sculpted by Tony Jones, of him in the water there.

The Monument to C. Y. O'Connor was built in 1911 and was designed by Pietro Porcelli.

The novel The Drowner by Robert Drewe provides a fictionalised account of O'Connor and the building of the pipeline.

On 7 December 1898, his daughter Eva married Sir George Julius at St John's Church, Fremantle. Julius was the first chairman of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) which later became the CSIRO.

His daughter Kathleen O'Connor was a successful and respected painter.

The C. Y. O'Connor College of TAFE in Western Australia bears his in name.

175px|thumb|Statue of O'Connor and horse at [[C.Y. O'Connor Beach|C.Y. O'Connor beach]]

The Division of O'Connor, named after O'Connor, is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Western Australia. Originally it encircled the area around Perth, from Geraldton on the Indian Ocean coast to Albany on the Southern Ocean coast. The electoral boundary was changed dramatically in 2008 (taking effect in 2010) and it now includes the Southern Wheatbelt and most of the Goldfields of Western Australia.

A bronze statue of O'Connor by Pietro Porcelli stands in front of the Fremantle Port Authority buildings, commemorating O'Connor's achievements. O'Connor has also had a school named after him called O'Connor Primary School, in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

A song called 'C.Y. O'Connor' by a local Irish band based in Western Australian named The Healys was written in memory of the Irish engineer.

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References

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  • Ayris, Cyril. C.Y.O'Connor : a brief biography West Perth, W.A. : Cyril Ayris Freelance, 2004.
  • Bourke, Peter. Wettening Auralia Nedlands, W.A.: Auralia Press, 2015.
  • Drewe, Robert. The drowner Sydney: Picador, 1997.
  • Evans, A. G. C.Y. O'Connor : his life and legacy . Crawley, W. A.: University of Western Australia Press, 2001.
  • Hasluck, Alexandra. C.Y. O'Connor. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1965.
  • Tauman, Merab. The chief: C.Y. O'Connor . Nedlands: University of Western Australia Press, 1978.
  • Webb, Martyn J. Death of a hero: the strange suicide of Charles Yelverton O'Connor. Early days Vol. 11, part 1 (1995), pp.&nbsp;81–111.

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  • Statue Named Perth's Best Public Art
  • The Golden Pipeline Project. A National Trust of Australia project to commemorate the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme