Corporate Body

Board of Science (1858 - 1860)

Colony of Victoria

From
15 February 1858
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
To
1860

Summary

The Board of Science was constituted by Commission of the Governor of Victoria, dated 15 February 1858, and formally Gazetted by the Chief Secretary on 3 June 1858 "to advise the Government on all matters wherein special scientific or technical knowledge is requisite". This during a period of rapidly expanding responsibilities for government in scientific and technical areas and followed several years in which the appointment of scientific government officers and the establishment of government scientific offices had been largely ad hoc.

Chaired by Andrew Clarke, MLA, the members included all the Government scientists: Charles Pasley (Commissioner of Public Works), Frederick McCoy (Prof. Natural History, Director of the Museum), Charles W. Ligar (Surveyor General), George C. Darbyshire (Engineer of the Victorian Railways), Alfred Selwyn (Government Geologist), Ferdinand Mueller (Government Botanist), Thomas Skilling (Model Farm), John Humffray (later Commissioner of Mines) and R. Brough Smyth (Secretary).

Most of the Board's activities centred on mining matters, and two Committees were formed to address the lack of mining information being gathered, and the standards of mining inspection. Two reports of the Board of Science were published in 1858-59 and 1859-60.

Following changes to Government administration, on 26 November 1860, John B. Humffray, MLA, was appointed the first Commissioner of Mines, and shortly afterward he appointed the Secretary of the Board of Science, also as the Secretary of Mines. From 1861, with most activities of the Board of Science now being handled by the Offices of Mines, its activities appear to have ceased.

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Published resources

Gazette Articles

Parlamentary papers

Theses

  • Cohn, Helen M., 'Some Foundations of Science in Victoria in the Decade After Separation', MA thesis, University of Melbourne, 1990. Details

Helen Cohn, Ken McInnes

Created: 16 April 2019, Last modified: 5 April 2023

EOAS ID: biogs/P006348b.htm

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