Edward Charles Frome

Who was Edward Charles Frome?

General Edward Charles Frome was a prominent British Army officer and Surveyor General of South Australia.

Born in Gibraltar, and orphaned early in his life, he was educated in Blackheath, London, England, where he became a close friend of Benjamin Disraeli. He received his commission in the Royal Engineers in 1825. He was involved in the Rideau Canal construction in Canada in 1827 to 1833.

In September 1839 Frome arrived in Adelaide, South Australia to take up an appointment as the third surveyor-general of South Australia. He made an important contribution in surveying large areas of South Australia for new immigrants to settle upon. In 1843 he led an expedition to the mid-north of South Australia and was the first to accurately map Lake Frome. He was also a competent artist and made many sketches and paintings of landscapes on his surveying expeditions.

After his ten-year term expired he returned to England and was subsequently stationed in Mauritius, Scotland and Gibraltar. Between 1869 and 1874 he served as Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey. He retired in 1877 with the army rank of general, and died in 1890 at Ewell in Surrey. His name was given to both Lake Frome and Frome Road, a major thoroughfare in Adelaide, South Australia.