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Victorian Naval Forces Muster

for the Colony of Victoria. (muster range 1853-1910)*

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Last Name:Woods
First Name:George Austin
Rank:First Lieutenant
Birth Date: 00-00-1831
Branch:Victorian Navy

George Austin Woods

First Lieutenant

Photo courtesy of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.


 

Born in Rochester, Kent in 1831.

Richard Timms.


Referred to as the Chief Officer of the Victoria. The Argus, 12 August 1856.


 

 

Appointed Chief Officer of the Victoria. Victorian Government Gazette, 28 October 1856.


  Lt. G. Woods was mentioned in despatches. (1st Taranaki War)


 

Crew member of HMCS Victoria 1860-61. See profile in Victoria & Australia's First War, Ian MacFarlane & Neil Smith, Mostly Unsung Military History, Brighton 2005.


 

Mentioned in Deeds not Words, Wilson P. Evans, The Hawthorn Press, Melbourne 1971.


 

 

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 5 May 1860


 



NZ Daily Southern Cross, 29 March 1861


 

"The first Lieutenant, Woods, the great man, was a man of very uneven character, to say the least of it. Very rough in his manners and despotic, but thanks to the interference of Captain Norman, a thorough gentleman, my position on board got settled." Botanist Diedrich Henne

Victoria. A History of Her Majesty's Steam Sloop Victoria, Ian MacFarlane unpublished manuscript.


 

The Argus

MONDAY, JUNE 23 1862.

The case of Lieutenant WOODS, of the colonial ship Victoria, ought to be a warning to those enterprising officers who exchange the QUEEN'S uniform for the pride and pleasure of serving a colony. The position is a somewhat embarrassing one, both for the colony and Lieutenant WOODS. We have indulged ourselves with a navy-or, rather, a ship of our own, and we have made no provision in regard to the very essential matter of promoting our own officers. However meritorious may be their services-how-ever great their, zeal, and successful their enterprises-there is no promotion for them in the Victorian navy. They may be as bold as COCHRANE and as great as NELSON, yet we are unable to reward them. There is no advancement, for the simple reason that there is nothing to which they can be advanced. There being but one vessel and one commander, it is difficult, so long as our navy remains at its present strength, and our commander continues (as we trust he long may) in good health and vigour, to make any move at all for the benefit of the subordinates.

The case of Lieutenant WOODS is particularly hard, because, in the ordinary course of events, he could not, if he had remained in the QUEEN'S service, have escaped being a commander before now. His six years' excellent service in the Victoria, and his gallant conduct during the New Zealand campaign, would have entitled him to his promotion as a matter of course. A similar, or even a less, distinction has gained for every first lieutenant in HER MAJESTY'S navy, his commandership. Lieutenant WOODS alone remains unrewarded and unpromoted, though the Victoria, as is universally admitted, worked harder than any vessel of war during the campaign, and though Lieutenant WOODS' own services in command of a detachment of the Naval Brigade, won for him the warm thanks of Commodore SEYMOUR, and have gained him an honourable place in the London Gazette.  

The question is, is there no reward for the officers of the Victorian navy who have fought the battles of the QUEEN shoulder to shoulder with their more fortunate comrades of the Imperial service? For the first time in the history of Australia, a colonial Ship of war has assisted HER MAJESTY'S forces in the prosecution of hostilities against the enemies of the empire. It may be the last time that the Victoria may be so distinguished, and her officers so fortunate. Everybody else, in any position of command, has been advanced and rewarded for his participation in the late operations. Is Lieutenant WOODS to remain the one solitary officer distinguished by non-distinction? The question was brought before the House towards the latter days of the session by Mr. LOADER, and a reply was elicited from the Chief Secretary which was anything but satisfactory. Mr. O'SHANASSY says, what is true, that there being only one ship in the Victorian navy, and Mr. WOODS being second in command of her, it was not possible to reward him in the usual way, by giving him a Ship of his own. But it will be a reproach, to the colony if the matter is allowed to end here, and if Mr. WOODS is deprived of his just distinction, because of the technical difficulty. It seems to us that there is one ready way of impartially, at least, giving Mr. WOODS his merited reward, without violating any naval etiquette, or derogating from the position of others. Let Mr. WOODS be promoted to the nominal rank of commander, to which he is fairly entitled by the rules of the Imperial service-still keeping his place as first-lieutenant of the <i>Victoria</i>, so long as Captain NORMAN continues to hold his command, as there is but one ship to represent our navy. Such an arrangement would, we believe, be agreeable to Lieutenant WOODS, and would involve no cost to the country. It might pave the way to a more substantial acknowledgement of Mr. WOODS' services, if Captain NORMAN, to whom the thanks of the colony are no less due for the admirable efficiency of our little Victoria, were desirous of exchanging, at some future time, his naval command for an appointment on shore, where his experience and abilities would be no lees useful to the country. We make this suggestion purely of our own motion, and, of course, without knowing how far Captain NORMAN's own wishes might incline to the arrangement. We have indicated, however, one way by which the colony might acknowledge the services of a gallant and deserving officer; and whether our suggestion is practicable or not, there can be no doubt that we ought to lose no time in carrying out at least that part of it which goes to the nominal acknowledgement of Lieutenant WOODS'S own services.




Victorian Naval Depot "Investigator Roads" Gulf of Carpentaria. HMCS Victoria in the distance.




Victorian Naval Depot Albert River, Gulf of Carpentaria. The hulk Firefly.

Both images were painted by Lieutenant Woods and were reproduced from the originals held by the State Library of Victoria.

See map for location of areas painted.


Appointed to command the Naval Training Ship; and also to superintendent of an Industrial School on board the same ship.
Victorian Government Gazette, 16 June 1865


 

The Argus, 21 September 1866


 

The first Premier of the Fijian Government during the reign of King Thakombau, 1871-1872.

Died in 1905.


* 1853 is given as the commencement date for the Victorian Navy as this is the year that Commander Lockyer (RN) went to Britain to superintend the building of HMCS Victoria.
Although the Victorian Navy ended in 1901 the career of Cerbeus etc continued. In 1910 the new ships started arriving & manning levels increased.

Information & photographs of men who served in the Victorian Naval Forces is eagerly sought. Please contact the webmaster.
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