Bill Dolence authors Book about George Chaffey

Bill Dolence, member of Mildura Australia Sister City Association and author of a book entitled “A Brief History of the Life of George Chaffey, Man of Vision,” spoke about the Chaffey legacy via Zoom from Australia at the Cooper Regional History Museum in May 2026.

Bill Dolence is an esteemed author and historian who explored the remarkable international chapter of the Chaffey family legacy. While George and William Chaffey are local icons for founding the “Model Colony” of Ontario and Upland, their visionary engineering didn’t stop at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. In 1886 they journeyed to the Murray River Valley in Australia to duplicate many of the techniques used in California to create a thriving arid community.