George Goyder

George Woodroffe Goyder
George Woodroffe Goyder in 1869
Surveyor General of South Australia
In office
31 January 1861 – 30 June 1894
Preceded bySir Arthur Freeling
Succeeded byWilliam Strawbridge
Personal details
Born(1826-06-24)24 June 1826
Liverpool, England
Died2 November 1898(1898-11-02) (aged 72)
Mylor, South Australia
Resting placeStirling District Cemetery
Spouses
Frances Mary Smith
(m. 1851; died 1870)
Ellen Priscilla Smith
(m. 1871)
Children12
Parents
  • David George Goyder (father)
  • Sarah Goyder (mother)
RelativesEdwin Mitchell Smith (nephew)
OccupationSurveyor

George Woodroffe Goyder (24 June 1826 – 2 November 1898) was a surveyor in the Colony of South Australia during the latter half of the nineteenth century.

He rose rapidly in the civil service, becoming Assistant Surveyor-General by 1856 and the Surveyor General of South Australia in 1861. He is remembered today for Goyder's Line of rainfall, a line used in South Australia to demarcate land climatically suitable for arable farming from that suitable only for light grazing, and for the siting, planning and initial development of Darwin, the Northern Territory capital and principal population centre. However, Goyder was an avid researcher into the lands of South Australia (including the present-day Northern Territory) and made recommendations to a great number of settlers in the newly developing colony, especially to those exploiting the newly discovered mineral resources of the state.