George Julius
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{{Merge|George Alfred Julius|date=June 2008}}
'''Sir George Alfred Julius''' ([[29 April]] [[1873]]–[[28 June]] [[1947]]) was the founder of Julius Poole & Gibson Pty Ltd and Automatic Totalisators Ltd, and invented the world's first automatic [[totalisator]].
He was born in [[Norwich]], [[England]] on [[29 April]] [[1873]]. Shortly afterwards his family emigrated to [[Australia]] when his father [[Churchill Julius]] (1847-1938), an Anglican minister, was appointed Archdeacon for the [[Anglican Diocese of Ballarat|diocese of Ballarat]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]. From an early age, George's mechanical inclination was obvious to his parents and he often helped his father to fix clocks. The family moved to [[New Zealand]] when Churchill Julius was nominated to the Diocese of Christchurch in 1889; he was consecrated (first) Bishop of Christchurch in 1890, and made Anglican Primate and (first) Archbishop of New Zealand in 1922. <ref>[http://members.ozemail.com.au/~bconlon/george_julius_genealogy.htm] [http://www.trademe.co.nz/Antiques-collectables/Postcards-writing/Other/auction-137091473.htm] </ref>
In [[1890]], George Julius enrolled in a B.Sc. (Mechanical Engineering) degree course at Canterbury College, [[University of New Zealand]]. Because of the contemporary boom in railway construction, he specialised in [[railway]] [[engineering]] and was the first such engineering student to graduate from this university, at the same time as [[Ernest Rutherford]].
Julius's professional career began in [[1896]]. He travelled to [[Western Australia]] to accept an appointment as assistant engineer on the staff of the Locomotive Department, [[Western Australian Government Railways]]. He worked for the Department for eleven years and was promoted to chief draughtsman and then engineer in charge of tests. In [[1898]], he married Eva O'Connor, daughter of [[Charles Yelverton O'Connor]], and they had three sons; the eldest Awdry Francis (born 1900) was later to become a partner in his father's firm.
While working for the Government Railways, George Julius conducted a series of tests on timber and wrote two learned papers on Western Australian [[hardwoods]]. This research led to a job offer from Allen Taylor & Co Ltd, a timber company in [[Sydney]], as part-time engineer. Julius accepted this offer in [[1907]].
In whatever spare time he had, George Julius worked on the design for an automatic totalisator. Helped by two of his sons, he built a [[prototype]]. However, the automatic totalisator was not originally conceived as a betting machine, but as a mechanical vote-counting machine. When the Government rejected the voting machine concept, George Julius adapted it as a racecourse totalisator.
The first installation of the totalisator was in [[New Zealand]] in [[1913]] and subsequent orders kept the firm of Julius Poole & Gibson solvent throughout the depression.
One of the great contributions made by George Julius to the advancement of Australian technology resulted from his appointment, in [[1926]], as chairman to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). This later became the [[CSIRO]], and a road in the grounds of the CSIRO headquarters in [[Canberra]] is named in his honour. He lobbied for development of primary production and solution to issues in such areas as food storage and food preservation. Later, he turned his attention to issues in secondary production such as aeronautics and electronics. During World War II, he served on the Central Inventions Board, the Australian Council for Aeronautics (as chairman) and the Army inventions Directorate.
George Julius was [[knighted]] in 1929 <ref> [http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1083438&search_type=advanced&showInd=true It's an Honour - knight bachelor]</ref>. He remained active as a committee representative until his death on [[28 June]] [[1947]].
His grand-daughter Wendy Julius married the Australian painter [[Brett Whiteley]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.georgejulius.com George Julius] historical page.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Julius, George}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1947 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Western Australia]]
[[Category:People from Norwich]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]