Bagot, Robert Cooper

BAGOT, Robert Cooper (1827–1881) was born at Fontetown, County Kildare, Ireland, the son of Rev. John Bagot and Olivia Edwards. John Bagot was a cousin of Emily Bagot, mother of the engineer Christopher Bagot Lane (1814-1877). Possibly at Christopher Lane’s suggestion, Robert trained as a civil engineer and surveyor under the eminent Irish engineer William Dargan (1799-1867) before migrating to Sydney in 1849 and settling at Moreton Bay. Bagot was employed by the New South Wales Surveyor-General as Assistant Surveyor to JC BURNETT for the Darling Downs in 1849 and for the Maranoa district in 1853. In c1855 he moved to the Port Phillip district where he practised as a civil engineer, surveyor and some-time architect. He died of pneumonia at his residence, Ascot Vale, Melbourne, on 14 April 1881 and is best remembered for laying out the grounds of the Melbourne Cricket Club and his contribution to horse racing in Australia. The South Australian architect Walter Hervey Bagot (1880-1963) is not closely related.