Christopher Rolleston

Christopher Rolleston CMG
Christopher Rolleston
Registrar-General of New South Wales
In office 1855–1864
Auditor-General of New South Wales
In office 1864–1883
Preceded by	William Mayne
Succeeded by	Edward Rennie
Personal details
Born	(1817-07-27)27 July 1817 Watnall, Nottinghamshire, England
Died	9 April 1888(1888-04-09) (aged 70)
Occupation	Civil servant

Christopher Rolleston CMG (27 July 1817 – 9 April 1888) was an English-born colonial public servant in Australia.

Rolleston was born 27 July 1817 in Watnall, Nottinghamshire, the second son of Rev. John Rolleston and Dorthy Burdette.

A prominent colonial civil servant in New South Wales, Rolleston served as the Register-General of New South Wales (1855 – 1864). During his time as registrar general he was responsible for the launch of compulsory registration of births, deaths and marriages. He also served in a range of previous roles including Commissioner of Crown Lands in the Darling Downs (1842-1853), private secretary to the Governor of New South Wales, Sir William Denison (1855), as well as auditor-general (1864-1883).

His commercial appointments included director, European Assurance Society, the Mercantile Bank of Sydney and the Australian Gas Light Company, and a superannuation fund commissioner.

He served as the president and later a trustee of the Australian Club. For his lifelong service to colonial New South Wales he was appointed CMG in 1879.

Legacy[]

The town of Rolleston in Queensland is named for him.

Publications[]

• The Condition and Resources of New South Wales — A lecture delivered at Sydney, December 12, 1866. (1867)

External links[]

• Christopher Rolleston at the Australian Dictionary of Biography
• Works written by or about Christopher Rolleston at Wikisource
• Mennell, Philip (1892). "Rolleston, Christopher" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.