John Barrow, C.E.,
A USEFUL and respected colonist who arrived in Adelaide in 1850, and died at Mount Gambler in September 1872. In July 1850 he was appointed Engineer of the South Road under the Central Road Board, and held that position till the breaking out of the Victorian gold-fields, when all departments were disorganized, and he followed the stream to Melbourne. Arriving there in December 1852, he was appointed by the Engineers' Department to examine and report upon the best means of improving the Western District, and was engaged in that capacity for three years. He examined various harbours and superintended the construction of roads, bridges, and public works. Mr. Barrow was appointed engineer to the Portland Road District in 1856, and retained that office till 1867, when he resigned, and settled at Mount Gambier in 1868. He entered warmly into most schemes for the development and improvement of the district, and among other things made a careful survey of Port MacDonnell, and showed the feasibility of making docks, etc. He also prepared plans and estimates for supplying Mount Gambier with water from the Blue Lake, and made an excellent and useful plan of the town, which he published. For fully two years before his death he was incapacitated by ill-health from taking prominent part in public matters.