Sprigg, Reginald Claude (1919 - 1994)

Summary

Reginald Sprigg was a South Australian geologist who was interested in geological surveys, mining and conservation. In 1962 he formed Beach Petroleum, incorporating his former company Geosurveys of Australia Pty Ltd, a company which became international by the late 1960s. In 1968 he bought Arkaroola, a derelict pastoral lease and turned it into a wild life sanctuary and wilderness reserve. Sprigg was Foundation President of the Australian Petroleum Exploration Association and winner of their Lewis G. Weekes Inaugural Gold Medal, and at age 17 became the youngest Fellow of the Royal Society of South Australia. Sprigg was educated at the University of Adelaide where he took geology classes taught by Douglas Mawson (q.v.), who said that "Sprigg was his best ever student".

Details

Chronology

1942

Career position - Master of Science (MSc), University of Adelaide

c. 1942 - c. 1945

Career position - War service in the Soils Department of the Waite Agricultural Institute and South Australian Department of Mines

1954 - 1960

Career position - Consultant to SANTOS

1954 - 1962

Career position - Geosurveys of Australia Pty Ltd established

1962

Career position - Beach Petroleum NL established

1968 -

Career position - Arkaroola (Mount Painter) Pastoral lease obtained and a wild life sanctuary and wilderness reserve established

1968

Award - Sir Joseph Verco Medal, Royal Society of South Australia

1981 - 1987

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences (FTS)

1983

Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) - For service to industry, particularly in the fields of geology and petroleum exploration

1987 - 1994

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) [Awarded by AATS 1981]

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Weidenbach, Kristin, Rock Star: the Story of Reg Sprigg, an Outback Legend (Hindmarsh, S.A.: East Street Publications, 2008), 333 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Harris, Colin, 'Sprigg, Reginald Claude (Reg) (1919-1994), geologist and eco-tourism operator' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 19 1991-1995 (A-Z), Melanie Nolan, ed. (ANU Press, 2021), pp. 779-781, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/sprigg-reginald-claude-reg-19112. Details
• Turner, S.; and Vickers-rich, Pat, 'Sprigg, Glaessner and Wade and the Discovery and International Recognition of the Ediacaran Fauna' in Four Centuries of Geological Travel: the Search for Knowledge on Foot, Bicycle, Sledge and Camel, Wyse-Jackson, P. N., ed. (London: Geological Society, 2007), pp. 443-5. Details
• Turner, Susan and Oldroyd, David, 'Reg Sprigg and the Discovery of the Ediacara Fauna in South Australia: Its Approach to the High Table Modern Paleontology' in The Paleobiological Revolution: Essays on the Growth of Modern Paleontology, Sepkoski, David and Ruse, Michael, eds (Chicago & London: University of Chicago, 2009), pp. 254-78. Details

Conference Papers

• Turner, S.; and Vickers-Rich, P, 'Reg Sprigg, Martin F. Glaessner, Mary Wade and the Ediacaran Fauna', in IGCP 493 Conference, Prato Workshop, Monash University Centre. August 30-31, 2004 (2004), p. 1.. Details

Journal Articles

• Cooper, Barry, 'Reg Sprigg (1919-1994): a legend in his own life time', The Australian Geologist, 94 (1985), 73-4. Details
• Cooper, Barry J.; and Jago, James B, 'The Emu Bay Shale: a History of Investigations', Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 58 (2011), 235-41. Details
• McGowran, Brian, 'Scientific Accomplishments of Reginald Claude Sprigg', Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 137 (2013), 1-52. Details
• Sprigg, Reg C., 'The Adelaide Geosyncline: a Century of Controversy', Earth Sciences History, 5 (1) (1986), 66-83. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2138025. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/3901872. Details
• 'Sprigg, Reginald Claude (19190301-19941202)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-464544. Details