Dunn, Frederic (1855 - 1933)

Summary

Frederic Dunn was assistant to J. Cosmo Newbery at the Science Museum in the 1870s and became a public analyst in 1884. In 1876, the Argus published a series of analyses carried out by them on confectionery, tea and milk, revealing serious adulteration. The outcry, together with continuing work by Dunn and others led eventually to the Victorian Pure Food Act of 1905 and its associated regulations, the first such legislation anywhere in the world.

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Collins, David, Chemistry in 19th Australia - Select Bibliography, An exhibition of the Encyclopedia circa 2005 with assistance from Ailie Smith and Gavan McCarthy., eScholarship Research Centre (original publisher), Melbourne, 2009, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/ciab/ciab_ALL.html. Details

Books

• Radford, Joan, The Chemistry Department of the University of Melbourne: its contribution to Australian Science, 1854-1959 (Melbourne: Hawthorn Press, 1978), 314 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Newbery, J. Cosmo and Dunn, Frederic, 'Experiments Made on a Sample of Pig Iron Received from the British and Tasmanian Iron Company, Port Lempriere, Tasmania', Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 15 (1879), 43-49, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34012257#page/415/mode/1up. Details
• Newbery, J. Cosmo and Dunn, Mr., 'Milk analysis, Editorial, republication of an article in The Argus, March 27, 1876', The Australian Medical Journal, 21 (1876), 89-94. Details

Resources

• 'Dunn, Frederic (1855-1933)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1473306. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_d.html. Details