Person

Darragh, Thomas Alwynne (Tom) (1940 - )

Born
1940
Australia
Occupation
Geologist, Palaeontologist, Science historian and Museum curator

Summary

Tom Darragh is an invertebrate palaeontologist whose field of expertise is Australian Tertiary marine molluscs. He has published key papers on fossil molluscs from across Australia. This research led him to study, and publish widely on, the history of Victorian naturalists, geology and geologists; the printing and lithographic industries in nineteenth-century Victoria particularly in relation to geological maps; and the contributions of German scientists to science in Victoria. His skill in reading and translating nineteenth-century German Gothic script has proved invaluable. In recent years he has made major contributions to the study of the work of Ludwig Leichhardt. Darragh joined the National Museum of Victoria (later Museum Victoria) in 1965, serving terms as Head of Geology and Deputy Director, retiring in 2001. In retirement he has continued his research on many fronts as Curator Emeritus at the Museum. He has been an active contributor to and associate editor for the Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller project since its inception in 1987. Darragh is a long-standing member of the Malacological Society of Australasia and the INHIGEO

Details

Chronology

? - 1999
Career position - Head of Geology, Museum Victoria
1971 -
Career position - Member, Malacological Society of Australia
2001 -
Career position - Curator emeritus, Museum Victoria
2001
Career event - Retired as Deputy Director, Museum Victoria
2016
Award - Tom Vallance Medal, Earth Sciences History Group, Geological Society of Australia

Related Corporate Bodies

Related Cultural Objects

Archival resources

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

  • Thomas Darragh - Records, 1850 - 1900, MS 10000; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

  • Darragh, Thomas A., The establishment and development of engraving and lithography in Melbourne to the time of the gold rush ( Willow Bend, Thumb Creek, Australia: Garravembi, 1990), 57 pp. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., Printer and newspaper registration in Victoria, 1838 - 1924 (Wellington, N.S.W.: Elibank Press, 1997), 428 pp. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., Engravers and lithographers in colonial Victoria: a directory (Melbourne: Ancora Press, 2023), 321 pp. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A.; and Pullin, Ruth, Lieber Freund! Letters from Eugen von Guerard to Julius von Haast (Ballarat: Art Gallery of Ballarat, 2018), 81 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Darragh, T. A.; Branagan, D. F., 'History' in Geology of Victoria, William D. Birch, ed. (Sydney: Geological Society of Australia (Victoria Division), 2003), pp. 671-685. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Hall, Thomas Sergant (1858--1915), Scientist' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds, vol. 9 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1983), pp. 166-167. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090159b.htm. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Mahony, Daniel James (1878-1944), Scientist' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds, vol. 10 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986), pp. 380-381. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100373b.htm. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Skeats, Earnest Willington (1875-1953), Geologist' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Geoffrey Serle, ed., vol. 11 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1988), pp. 621-622. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110635b.htm. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Pritchard, George Baxter (1869-1956), Geologist' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Geoffrey Serle, ed., vol. 11 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1988), pp. 300-301. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110308b.htm. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Keble, Alexander Robert (1884-1963), Geologist and Palaeontologist' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, John Ritchie, ed., vol. 14 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1996), pp. 605-606. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140691b.htm. Details

Conference Papers

  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Ludwig Becker as a Geologist', in Useful and Curious Geological Enquiries Beyond the World: Pacific-Asia Historical Themes: The 19th International INHIGEO Symposium, Sydney, Australia, 4-8 July, 1994 edited by D. F. Branagan and G. H. McNally (Sydney: International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences, 1994), pp. 192-199.. Details
  • Darragh, Tom, 'Robert Brough Smyth: a Mystery Solved', in The History of Geology in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century; the Story in Australia, and in Victoria, from Selwyn and McCoy to Gregory - 1853 to 1903 edited by Pierson, R. R. (Melbourne: Earth Sciences History Group, GSA Inc., 2007), pp. 26-9.. Details

Journal Articles

  • Beu, A. G. and Darragh, Thomas A., 'Revision of southern Australian Cenozoic fossil Pectinidae (Mollusca, Bivalvia)', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 113 (1) (2001), 1-205. Details
  • Beu, Alan G.; Nolden, Sascha; and Darragh, Thomas A., 'A Revision of New Zealand Cenozoic Fossil Mollusca Described by Zittel (1865) Based on Hochstetter's Collections from the Novara Expedition', Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists, 43 (2012), 1-71. Details
  • Birch, William D.; and Darragh, Thomas A., 'George Henry Frederick Ulrich (1830 - 1900): pioneer mineralogist and geologist in Victoria', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 127 (1) (2015), 17-38, https://doi.org/10.1071/RS15002. Details
  • Darragh, T. A., 'The first geological maps of the continent of Australia', Journal of the Geological Society of Australia, 24 (5) (1977), 279-305. Details
  • Darragh, T. A., 'Ferdinand Mueller and Charles La Trobe', La Trobeana: the newsletter of the La Trobe Society of Australia, 2 (2) (2004), 1-5. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas, 'Ferdinand Hochstetter's Notes from a Visit to Australia and a Tour of the Victorian Goldfields in 1859', Historical Records of Australian Science, 13 (2) (2001), 383-437. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR0011340383. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'History of geology in Victoria', Special Publications of the Geological Society of Australia, 5 (1976), 1-9. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Molluscan biogeography and biostratigraphy of the Tertiary of southeastern Australia', Alcheringa, 9 (2) (1985), 83-116. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'The Geological Survey of Victoria Under Alfred Selwyn, 1852-1868', Historical Records of Australian Science, 7 (1) (1987), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9870710001. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Charles Sturtevant Wood, Analyst, his Work and his Correspondence with James Hector', Historical Records of Australian Science, 7 (3) (1988), 231-271. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9880730231. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'A revision of the Tertiary Volutidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of South-eastern Australia', Memoirs of the Museum of Victoria, 49 (2) (1989), 195-307. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Frederick Proeschel, Colonial Map Maker', Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin, 15 (3/4) (1991), 105-176. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Frederick McCoy', The Fossil Collector Bulletin, 36 (1992), 15-22. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Brief history of the palaeontological collection in the Museum of Victoria', The Fossil Collector Bulletin, 40 (1993), 7-12. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Mueller and Personal Names in Zoology and Palaeontology', The Victorian naturalist, 113 (1996), 195-197. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Gastropoda, Scaphopoda, Cephalopoda, and new Bivalvia of the Paleocene Pebble Point Formation, Victoria, Australia', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 109 (1997), 57-108. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Ludwig Becker, a Scientific Dilettante: His Correspondence with J.J. Kaup and Others'', Historical Records of Australian Science, 11 (4) (1997), 501-522. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9971140501. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Robert Brough Smyth: His Early Years as Revealed by his Correspondence with Adam Sedgwick', Historical Records of Australian Science, 13 (1) (2000), 19-42. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR0001310019. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Bishop Goold and Ferdinand von Mueller: a 30 Year Acquaintance', Footprints: Journal of the Melbourne Diocesan Historical Commission, June (2003), 3-9. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'William Blandowski: a Frustrated Life', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 121 (2009), 11-60. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Hermann Deutsch, Pioneer Ballarat Engraver and Lithographer', Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal, 20 (2010), 131-46. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'The death of William Blandowski', Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria, 124 (2012), 234-5. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Leichhardt as a Geologist', Memoirs of the Queensland Museum: Culture, 7 (2) (2013), 575-97. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Further mollusca from the late Eocene Pallinup Formation, Eucla Basin, Western Australia', Records of the Western Australian Museum, 32 (1) (2017), 29-100. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Hermann Beckler: contributions on Australia made in Germany', Historical Records of Australian Science, 28 (2) (2017), 140-5, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR17013. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Ludwig Leichhardt: four previously unknown letters to John Nicholson and the involvement of Ferdinand von Mueller in publishing Leichhardt's letters', Historical Records of Australian Science, 29 (2) (2018), 153-61. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR18006. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'Lothar Becker: a German naturalist in Victoria, 1849-52, 1855-65', Historical Records of Australian Science, 30 (2) (2019), 119-29, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR18020. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'George Ulrich's contributions in German in Victorian geology, mining amd mineralogy (1859 - 1864)', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 134 (1) (2022), 7-44, https://doi.org/10.1071/RS22001. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A.; and Fensham, R. J., 'The Leichhardt Diaries: Early Travels in Australia During 1842-1844', Memoirs of the Queensland Museum: Culture, 7 (1) (2013), 1-540. Details
  • Darragh, Thomas A.; and Lucas, A. M., 'Two states of fascicle 1 of Mueller's Fragmenta phytographiae australiae', Archives of Natural History, 39 (2) (2015), 301-7. Details
  • Darragh, Tom, 'Ferdinand Mueller and Charles La Trobe: 'So many signs of benevolence and favour'', La Trobeana, 11 (3) (2012), 25-9. Details
  • Darragh, Tom; Ponder, Winston; Kendrick, Allan; and Kabat, Alan, 'George W. Kendrick June 1929 - November 2014', Western Australian naturalist, 32 (4) (2021), 197-205. Details
  • Grosser, Michelle; and Joyce, Bernie, 'Vallance Medal [awarded to Tom Darragh]', TAG: the Australian geologist, 180 (2016), 16. Details
  • Lucas, A.M.; Lucas, Paula, Darragh, T. A.; and Maroske, S., 'Colonial pride and metropolitan expectations: the British Museum and Melbourne's meteorites', British Journal for the History of Science, 27 (1994), 65-87. Details
  • Maroske, Sara and Darragh, Thomas A., 'F. Mueller, "The Murray-scrub, sketched botanically", 1850: a Humboldtian description of Mallee vegetation', Historical Records of Australian Science, 27 (1) (2016), 41-6, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR16012. Details
  • May, Tom W.; and Darragh, Thomas A., 'The significance of mycological contributions by Lothar Becker', Historical Records of Australian Science, 30 (2) (2019), 130-7, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR19005. Details
  • Nolden, Sascha; and Darragh, Thomas, 'Ferdinand Hochstetter's Australian 'Novara' expedition diary and voyage to New Zealand, 6 November ‒ 22 December 1858', Journal of the Historical Studies Group, Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 73 (2023), 7-48. Details
  • Pullin, V. Ruth and Darragh, Thomas A., 'The artist-collector: Eugene von Guérard and the Berlin Ethnological Museum', Australian historical studies, 54 (4) (2023), 690-717. https://doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2023.2256350. Details
  • Wilhelmi, Carl, 'My Journeys in South Australia: Lecture by Carl Wilhelmi, 14 September 1857 (translated and introduced by Thomas A. Darragh)', Journal of Friends of Lutheran Archives, 13 (2003), 5-24. Details
  • Wood, Beverley and Darragh, Thomas A., 'In his own words: Dr Hermann Beckler's writings about his journeys between the Darling River and Bulloo, 1860-1', Historical Records of Australian Science, 27 (1) (2016), 28-40, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR16012. Details

Newspaper Articles

  • Darragh, Thomas A., 'A revision of the family Columbariidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda)', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 83 (1) (1069), 63-119. Details

Resources

Reviews

  • Leake, B. E., The Life and Work of Professor J. W. Gregory FRS (1864-1932): Geologist, Writer and Explorer (2011)
    Darragh, Thomas A., Historical Records of Australian Science, 23 (2), (2012), 232-3, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR12014. Details
  • Braund, James, ed., Ferdinand Hochstetter and the Contribution of German-speaking Scientists to New Zealand Natural History in the Nineteenth Century (2012)
    Darragh, Thomas A., Historical Records of Australian Science, 24 (2), (2013), 346-8, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR13005. Details
  • Clancy, Robert, The long enlightenment: Australian science from its beginning to the mid-20th century (2021)
    Darragh, Tom, Historical Records of Australian Science, 32 (2), (2021), 203-4, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR21903. Details

Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn

EOAS ID: biogs/P001559b.htm

Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
What do we mean by this?

Published by the Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology.
This Edition: 2024 February (Kooyang - Gariwerd calendar)
Reference: http://www.bom.gov.au/iwk/calendars/gariwerd.shtml#kooyang
For earlier editions see the Internet Archive at: https://web.archive.org/web/*/www.eoas.info

The Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation uses the Online Heritage Resource Manager (OHRM), a relational data curation and web publication system developed by the eScholarship Research Centre and its predecessors at the University of Melbourne 1999-2020. The OHRM has been maintained by Gavan McCarthy since 2020.

Cite this page: https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001559b.htm

"... the rengitj, as a visible mark or imprint on the land, is characterised as a place of origin, the repository of all names, as well as a kind of mapped visual expression of the connection between people and places which is to be carried out in the temporal sequence of the journey." Fanca Tamisari (1998) 'Body, Vision and Movement: In the footprints of the ancestors'. Oceania 68(4) p260