"In or about the month of November, 1873, the British Government decided, after considering the circumstances of your case, that as you have discovered their secret you ought to suffer death.” This is how Fred Birmingham usually explained why his life had fallen apart at the age of fifty two. A conspiracy had been hatched against him because he possessed some dangerous knowledge: the plans for a working flying machine.
Frederick William Birmingham was born in the Irish town of Westport, County Mayo. Frederick’s father was a civil engineer named William Birmingham (1791-1848) who probably helped him get his first job, aged 17, assisting with a major project to survey the West of Ireland. He then spent the next eight years surveying Ireland and England before moving to New York
There he acquired his first colonial experience and worked as a private contractor. He was hired by the chief engineer of Albany to draw up the proposed water distribution system. However, he was dissatisfied with the very low wages offered in America and before long set off on another adventure.
In 1852 he arrived in Australia, and after an extended stay in Victoria eventually settled down in Parramatta. On April 20, 1855, he took up a draftsman’s position in the Surveyor General’s Department. The job was given to him on a six-month trial basis but it would be the turning point in his career. In this suburb of Sydney his reputation as a man of integrity and ability would see him elected as an alderman in 1865 and then again in 1867. And it was here he was destined to experience a bizarre encounter that would radically change his life.
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