William Poole died in Sydney, New South Wales, on July 16th, 1929, at the age of 61.
An Australian by birth, he spent practically the whole of his life in the Commonwealth, mostly in his native State of New South Wales. On leaving school in 1886 he spent two and a half years as cadet in the railway construction branch of the Public Works Department of N.S.W. With an interval of about two years spent in studying civil engineering at Sydney University, he returned to the P.W.D. as assistant and resident engineer in the water conservation and irrigation branch until 1897, when he resigned his position to take a three years’ course in mining and metallurgy at Sydney University, in which he graduated with honours. On completion of this course he went to Broken Hill and subsequently to Port Pirie when he held the position of assistant metallurgist and night superintendent of smelter.
In 1904 he was appointed the Director of Charters Towers (Government) School of Mines, and in 1912 he occupied a similar position at the Ballarat School of Mines, Victoria. Two years later he joined the firm of Julius, Pool & Gibson, of Sydney, N.S.W., consulting engineers, of which he was still a member at his death.
Mr. Poole was elected an Associate of the Institution in 1905 and was transferred to Membership in 1912.
Vol. 39, Trans I.M.M., 1929-30, p.700
