NEWBIGIN, WILLIAM JOHNSTONE (1874-1927), mechanical engineer and company director, was born on 12 June 1874 at Alnwick, Northumberland, England, son of James Leslie Newbigin, master druggist, and his wife Emma, née France. On completing his apprenticeship in 1895 he was appointed foreman in charge of testing by Messrs C. A. Parsons & Co., Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He arrived in Victoria in 1899 as guarantee engineer for plant installed at the Spencer Street power station of Victorian Railways. In 1901-05 he was resident engineer in Australia for Parsons, retaining the position when he became Victorian representative of Sydney-based William Adams & Co. Ltd, engineers and contractors. He also had useful professional connexions in England through his brother Henry. He visited Britain in 1909 and married Edith Margaret Rennoldson, daughter of a shipbuilder, on 2 November at South Shields, Durham.

Newbigin supported movements aimed at the promotion and conservation of the interests of professional engineers and ...

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Australian Dictionary of Biography