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.