The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Jardine, Alexander William
Jardine, Alexander William, M.I.C.E., F.R.G.S., J.P., son of the late John Jardine, 3rd son of the 6th baronet, of Applegirth, Dumfriesshire, was bora on Nov. 9th, 1845, near Sydney, N.S.W., and educated at the Sydney Grammar School. In 1864-5 he conducted, with his elder brother Francis Lascelles, an overland expedition from Rockhampton in Queensland to Cape York, for which he was awarded the "Murchison Grant" of the Royal Geographical Society, London, and elected a fellow. At the end of 1865 he entered the Queensland Civil Service as Roads Engineer, and in 1868 he was appointed Foreman of Works, and surveyed and formed the main road from Brisbane to the Gympie Goldfields. In 1874 he was appointed Engineer of Roads and Bridges for Central Queensland, and when that office was abolished in 1880 he became Superintending Engineer of the Fitzroy River Navigation Works, and shortly afterwards Superintending Engineer of the Central and Northern Harbour and River Works. In 1882 he was elected Associate M.I.C.E., London, and in 1884 he was elected M.I.C.E. He was offered and declined the post of Chief Engineer of Bridges, and in 1889 was appointed Deputy Engineer of Harbours and Rivers, and on the retirement of Mr. Nisbet in September of the same year, became acting Chief Engineer in the same department. He is a fellow of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, and of other scientific bodies. Mr. Jardine married in 1883 Charlotte Elizabeth, daughter of Archibald Mossman and sister of Ladies McIlwraith and Palmer.