Scrivener was born in Windsor, New South Wales. In 1876 he was employed by the New South Wales Department of Lands. He was apprenticed as a surveyor between 1877 and 1879. In 1880 he became a licenced surveyor. He surveyed numerous sites for the construction of Australia's capital, including Buckley's Crossing, the Hay district, and lastly the Yass-Canberra district. Scrivener's contour map of the selected site was used as the basis for entries in the Canberra design competition. He was appointed first director of Commonwealth lands and surveys in 1910 and retired in 1915. He died aged 67 in Killara, New South Wales.
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