James Dugald Somerville


James Dugold Somerville, born in Glasgow, was a South Australian historian with a special interest in Eyre's Peninsula, especially Port Lincoln.

Background

Somerville was the third son of Peter Somerville of Glasgow, floriculturist, and his wife Christina née Leitch whom he married in 1860 and with five children arrived in South Australia in the Saxon in May 1871, and settled at Glen Osmond, then Knoxville.
On 20 October 1896 he married Edith Tapley, a daughter of J. M. Tapley of Tapleys Hill, South Australia. They had one daughter, Mabel.

Career

From June 1909 to September 1911 he was Superintendent and Resident Railway Engineer of the Darwin and Pine Creek railway.
He was Resident Railway Engineer for the South Australian Railways at Port Lincoln, and on his retirement in 1933 began the work for which he is known; beginning with the compilation of a large album of newspaper cuttings, extracts from books and other material. Then from October 1934 he contributed several hundreds of articles on historical themes to the Port Lincoln Times. He was able to enlist the assistance of a large number of private correspondents and public bodies, notably the Port Lincoln Council and the South Australian Archives.
He was secretary of the Historical Memorials committee of the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia.

Donations