Alfred Wernam Canning (February 21 1860 - 1936) was a Western Australian government surveyor. Born at Campbellfield north of Melbourne, he started work in New South Wales as a cadet surveyor and in 1893 joined the Western Australian Department of Lands and Survey. In 1901 a royal commission resulted in Canning being commissioned to survey a route for a barrier fence across the State. Construction of the fence, known as the No. 1 Rabbit Proof Fence was completed in 1907. When completed it was the longest line of unbroken fence in the world. Canning is best known for surveying a stockroute for bringing cattle 1500km overland from the Kimberley district to the goldfields in 1906 and 1907. He returned the following year to commence construction of 51 wells which were set one days march (20km) apart to feed travelling livestock. The route was competed in 1910 and runs from Halls Creek to Wiluna. Canning received a hero's welcome on his return to Perth, however his cook alleged the party had forced Aboriginal men to locate water, destroyed water holes and interfered with Aboriginal women. A Royal Commission exonerated expedition members of all charges despite the cooks evidence.[1] In 1929 at the age of 68, Canning was commissioned to complete a restoration of the wells. The Canning Stock Route is named after him, as well as Canning Highway and the Federal Division of Canning. A number of other place names in Western Australia are also named Canning but attributed to George Canning, Prime Minister of England in 1827. He died in Perth in 1936, a public collection was started to raise funds for a memorial to Canning but the memorial was never built at that time.[2] . However a memorial was made in the 1950's. [3]
References
- ^ WA Museum
- ^ Western Australian exploration : A.W. Canning memorial. Perth, [W.A.], [1937] In Battye Library
- ^ A.W. Canning memorial unveiled in Public Library of Western Australia West Australian, 16 June 1950, p. 7
Further reading
- Warwick, Mark (1993) Alfred Canning and the Rabbit-Proof Fence. Bushdriver, vol. 16, no. 5. (Describes Canning's journey to find a route for the rabbit proof fence from Starvation Harbour on the south coast to Wallal in the far north-west).
