A profile. Carl Ludwig Adalbert Weber.

Image courtesy of the Wollongong City Library, Wollongong.

The year of the Southhampton gold rush, 1854, ships to Australia were filled with British passengers, as well as Carl Ludwig Adalbert Weber whom arrived in NSW aboard the screw steamer Croesus.

One year old, little did he know he would become so significant over the next 68 years of his life that were to follow, nor did he know of his talent and skill which would develop and enable him to contribute so greatly to the future of Australia's South Coast.

Carl Ludwig Adalbert Weber was born in London in 1852, the son of Adalbert Arnold Weber and Adelaide Amelia Schleswig. Carl’s godmother, Lady Emma Duke, was one of the maids honour to queen Victoria, who cradled him in her arms after his Christening in the Lutheran Church.

Once Carl was of age, he was offered a position at a bank, which he kindly refused after they requested he shave off his beard, so he moved on to the harsh outback of the colony of New South Wales. He was recruited by surveyor-general and engineer Sir Thomas Mitchell. This is when he found his passion. Naturally, Carl’s profession as surveyor and engineer shortly followed.

His first tasks involved constructing roads in Braidewood and Kempsey which were destined at the Clyde and McLeay rivers. Once he established substantial knowledge and experience, he travelled to the Shoalhaven and Molonglo rivers before working on the initial surveys of the Sydney water supply in Darkes Forest. This was where he met his future wife Elizabeth Rice, eldest daughter of a Captain.

Their love blossomed during 1874 when Carl fell ill due to his heavy workload and was nursed by Elizabeth and her mother who owned the land on which he temporarily resided.When Carl turned 24 years of age and Elizabeth much younger, they married at St Marks Church of Appin, of course with the permission of both of Elizabeth’s parents. They went on to have eight Children, Arnold, Guido, Gertrude, Dora, William, Lilian and Berla and another son whom died soon after birth age 13 months and 3 days.

When Carl was he was 43, Elizabeth’s health began to fail due to a contraction of Laryngitis and she soon passed away on April 11, 1903, age 47 and buried at what was once called Sutherland Cemetery, now know as Woranora. By the time Carl reached 47, his mother Adelaide passed away from exhaustion at 84 years of age.

His most notable work was the lay-out of the Macquarie Pass road, which he surveyed under directions of the late Mr Archibald Campbell M.L.A, which the Chief Commissioner for Railways recently stated is one of the best mountain grades in the Illawarra district. The late John Brown, of Dapto, esteemed him as one of the best surveyors in the State. It was he who also formed the Bulli Pass Lookout, which for years after was known as Weber's Lookout.

In time, Weber moved to the North Coast, where he laid out the road from Kempsey to Armidale and became road superintendent for the Government at Glen Innes. This was the time he decided to relocate to the Illawarra district, where as Government road superintendent he had charge of the district from Sydney to Moruya. He subsequently supervised work for the Government at Bega.

He was responsible for carrying out the survey of the coastal road from Clifton to Stanwell Park, and the work of construction was carried out under his supervision, men having to be lowered over the cliff to carry out the initial excavations. Carl was also associated with the early South Coast exhibits at the Royal Show, and his professional knowledge helped considerably towards laying the foundation of the success which has attended these exhibits ever since.

After suffering from a liver disease for over 6 months, Carl Weber passed away on April 12, 1923, aged 69 and outlived his beloved wife by 20 years and one day. He passed in his home, which was located on the south-western corner of Towradgi Rd and Ocean St, Reidtown. It was known for it’s transparent structure built on the very middle of it’s roof from which Carl would climb once a day, to look out upon the town he had helped to create.

March 19. The final escapade.

I didn't have any luck at the University of Wollongong, however I did head back to the Wollongong City Library yesterday and located an image of plaque I mistook for Weber's. In fine font, it states that the deceased was aged 13 months and three days. No name is mentoned. I realise this must have belonged to his last son.

An image of this plaque is included in my appendix, along with a bibliography and many other photocopies of various important documents which contributed to my research of the late Carl Ludwig Adalbert Weber, pioneering surveyor and engineer of the Illawarra region. Of whom we owe much gratitude.

March 14. The depth of a great man.

Whilst uncovering the life of Carl Weber I came accross a journal, and inside the journal was list after list after list.


His lists were constructed for so many different things, poems, travels, simple things to do as well as one named "Books" which were mainly related to his profession. One in particular was entitled "Primary element's of algebra". Carl Weber was a very well-read man.

Ray, Joseph, 1807-1855 New Elementary Algebra : Primary Elements of Algebra

He didn't just like to read books, he loved poetry as well and the following is an extract from a poem from the top of his list entitled My Lost Youth, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Often I think of the beautiful town
That is seated by the sea;
Often in thought go up and down
The pleasant streets of that dear old town,
And my youth comes back to me.
And a verse of a Lapland song
Is haunting my memory still:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

I can see the shadowy lines of its trees,
And catch, in sudden gleams,
The sheen of the far-surrounding seas,
And islands that were the Hesperides
Of all my boyish dreams.
And the burden of that old song,
It murmurs and whispers still:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

The issue still lies as to the name of his eighth child, marked as deceased on Weber's death certificate. I'm going to run a search at the University of Wollongong Library to see if there is any information about the child.

March 13. Anything I've missed?

I went back through the material I gathered from Wollongong City Library and came across a family tree I hadn't really looked at properly since I found it.

After reading over the strange but wonderful names and family names, I came across a name that was rather familiar!

Carl Ludwig Adalbert Weber is related to Mozart!



In September or 1779 th Weber family left Munich for Vienna, where Constanze Weber married Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1782! Brilliant.

Thank goodness I looked back, or I would have never found out.

March 12, 6pm. Grave Digging.

Today was massive! I spent until noon at Woranora Cemetery. I wandered into reception to get my hands on a map, waited for the receptionist to locate his grave and realised I actually parked my car right infront of it!

Amazing. I thought I'd be wandering around like a lost cause - I think not, X marks the spot!

If only the sun were behind me! I had a good run, I can't complain. After making my way to Woranora I decided to head back to Wollongong Library this afternoon to continue fishing through the manuscript. After about 3 hours I'd photocopied tons of material and made a plan to siv through it at a later date.

And then... one of the librarians asked me whether or not I was studying Journalism. Strange I know, "Why yes." I said with a tired grin. She then proceeded to tell me that people had been coming in all day looking for significant people who had died 30 years ago and she was trying to compile a list of possible subjects.

The librarian mentioned she was suprised I'd chosen Carl as she couldn't locate his grave. After I told her I'd just been at his gravesite she stood without words for a few seconds before pacing up and down the room asking a multitude of questions.

I told the librarian where his grave was and in return she said she had found a book Tales From Our Streets, written by Anne Wood, which encompassed an array of information about he and his family's journey from England to Australia.

The short, one page biography seemed to fill in the gaps. His life was filled with more excitement than I first thought!

Carl is linked to the Royal Family. He came to london when he was 1 year old with his mother and sister due to his father, Adalbert, who was a Captain in the Prussian Army, who had challenged his Colonel and Captain to a duel.

But wait, there's more!

He was secretly engaged to Adelaide, Carl's mother, who was a Baroness, despite the fact that she was to wed a Prussion prince in an arranged marriage!

... My, what a day!

March Ten 4pm. The intrusion.

I visited Wollongong library today and spent hours reading through the manuscipt. I felt like I was intruding.

The libraries around Wollongong don't have any other sources of material so far... but the manuscript has enough valuable information for the moment.

I wonder why his family came to Australia? How old was Carl?

Today I found a copy of his will which gave me some insight into his family and possessions however it was incredibly illegible, not just due to his handwiritng though. I also found a copy of his death certificate indicating he was quite ill for six months before his death suffering a malignant disease of the liver. He was 69 when he died.

I've made plans to visit his grave site on Wednesday.

I also found multiple dates and survey notes as to his many establishments in the Illawarra. Makes me realise how much the Illawarra owes the man Carl Weber.

March Seven. 1pm. Eureka!

Oh Carl! I've found you. After calling cemetries around Sutherland there you were all along - Carl Ludwig Adalbert Weber's grave is located at Woranora General Cemetery and Crematorium. I'm so suprised no one else knew!

What a feeling!

March Seven. 8am. Plan B - Failed.

I'e called the Illawarra Family History Group and they directed me to the Wollongong Library, apparently there is a Manuscript containing letter, journals, birth certificates, marriage certificates etc - wow!

So incrediby lucky to have all of this great material right on my doorstep BUT the delightful lady on the phone, who was incredibly apologetic, couldn't help me to find his grave site.

So Plan B failed, but what if I missed something in Plan A.

I'm going to run another search. "Sutherland cemetry".

March Six 9pm. Plan A.

Ok so Michael doesn't know where he was buried. He insist I try the Illawarra Family History group... but really if a member of the University of Wollongong Library didn't find out... will I?

March Six. 5pm. The non-existent cemetery.

After running a search for a "Sutherland cemetry" I've found it doesn't exist.

Right.

Well then back to the drawing board? Find another subject? I think not!

The website was so detailed, so much research had already been done, who would have created such a fantastic thing and why? Because they were fascinated. They obviously found some fanastic material, I wonder if they knew where Carl was buried? After all I can't use Carl as my subject without knowing where his grave is - very important part of the assignment.

So... back the the website I go trying to find the creator. Lo and behold his contact details lie at the bottom of the page and he's a member of the UOW Library. Fantastic! How lucky I feeling to have him so easily accessible. Carl is looking more handsome by the second.

March Six. Heavenly tutorial.

Well thank goodness I went to the tutorial because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have found Carl. We were assigned an in class research task and I did a quick google search on the computer, I believe it was "significant people nsw died". It was an early morning, late in the week and even so those few vague words led to a mountain of brilliance.

Up popped Carl. A striking lad with a beard a foot long. "Pioneering surveyor and engineer".

I ran search after search after search before it was made clear there was no other webpage dedicated to him. I figured it as due to the lack of information and primary material. So I wondered - did I want to risk the long hours of tedious fishing for primary research - journals, letters etc. Of course I did! UNTIL I realised amongst the wonderful array of secondary information on the page, it indicated his remains were buried in Sutherland cemetry.

The journey began...

"Owe you one mate!"

I realise I should have begun my blog before I began to reseach, the only explaination I have is that it's an ideosyncracy of myself. If I'd have begun in the correct order, I can assure you it frankly would not be me. It would not be Emma's work and these hands typing away at the key board would not be mine.

All in all, I plan on back-tracking. Why? Because I like blogs and I think it's the most interesting way to submit this assignment. Also, I feel I've intruded on Carl so much in the past week, so much I feel like we're mates - as odd as that sounds - so I'm doing him a favour and perhaps someone will find this blog, read it, absorb it, tell someone else about it and then two more people will know how much the people of the Illawarra owe to the man named Carl Ludwig Adalbert Weber. If he hadn't have lived, I know I wouldn't be here.