Meteorological Branch/Bureau (1907 - 1955)

Summary

The Meteorological Branch/Bureau was established under the authority of the Meteorology Act 1906 by formally bringing together the individual Colonial/State Meteorological Services that had existed prior to that time. It commenced operation as a Commonwealth agency on 1 January 1908. H. A. Hunt was appointed Commonwealth Meteorologist and took up the position on 1 January 1907. The Commonwealth Meteorologist's duties included: taking and recording meteorological observations; forecasting weather; the issue of storm warnings; the display of weather, flood, frost, and cold wave signals; and, distribution of meteorological information. At the time he was appointed the position was in the Postmaster-General's Department. However by 21 June 1907 positions within Meteorology were advertised with the Department of Home Affairs. Following the repeal of the Meteorology Act 1906, the Bureau was formally re-established, under the charge of the Director of Meteorology, by the Meteorology Act 1955.

Related entries

Timeline

 1907 - 1955 Meteorological Branch/Bureau
       1955 - Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology

Published resources

Books

• Australia. Bureau of Meteorology, A Century of Science and Service: the Australian Bureau of Meteorology 1908-2008 (Melbourne: Bureau of Meteorology, 2008), 15 pp. Details
• Bureau of Meteorology, Australia's Role in International Meteorology - IMO-WMO Centenary 1973-1973 (Melbourne: Bureau of Meteorology, 1973). Details
• Bureau of Meteorology, The Bureau of Meteorology 1908-1983 (Canberra: AGPS, 1983), 11 pp. Details
• Day, David, Weather watchers: 100 years of the Bureau of Meteorology (Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 2007), 530 pp. Details
• Gardner, J., Stormy Weather: a History of Research in the Bureau of Meteorology, Metarch Papers No. 11 (Bureau of Meteorology, 1997). Details
• Gibbs, W. J., A mini-history of meteorology in Australia (Melbourne: Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, 1996). Details
• Gibbs, W. J., A Very Special Family: Memories of the Bureau of Meteorology 1946 to 1962, Metarch Papers No. 13 (Bureau of Meteorology, 1999). Details
• Lillywhite, J., My Early Years in the Bureau of Meteorology: the Formation of the Frosterley Club, Metarch Papers No. 4 (Bureau of Meteorology, 1992). Details
• Zillman, John W., A Hundred Years of Science and Service (Melbourne: Bureau of Meteorology, 2001), 20 pp, http://www.bom.gov.au/info/100_years.pdf. Details

Book Sections

• Gibbs, W. J., 'A mini-history of meteorology in Australia' in Windows on Meteorology: Australian Perspective, Webb, Eric K., ed. (Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, 1997), pp. 81-104. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Dr (W.J.) Bill Gibbs, Director, Bureau of Meteorology, 1962-1978', Bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, 11 (4) (1998), 78-82. Details
• Bond, H. G., 'A Tradition of Meteorology', Weather News, 127 (February 1967) (1967), 1. Details
• Cameron, A. M., 'Australian Meteorology', Sydney University Magazine, 1 (1878). Details
• Gentilli, J., 'A History of Meteorological and Climatological Studies in Australia', University Studies in History, 5 (1967), 54-88. Details
• Gibbs, W. J., 'A Perspective of Australian Meteorology - 1939-1978', Australian Meteorological Magazine, 30 (1982), 3-17. Details
• Gibbs, W. J., 'Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology', World Meteorological Organization Bulletin, 32 (1983), 309-313. Details
• Morgan, Helen, 'Bill Gibbs and the Origins of Australian Meteorology', Australasian Science, 22 (6) (2001), 46. Details
• Todd, C., 'A Review of Meteorological Work in Australia', Report of the fifth meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 5 (1894), 246-270, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15362434. Details

Resources

• Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475621. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Primary description of agency CA 215; Meteorological Branch/Bureau, Central Office, Registration of entity: 10 December 1981', in RecordSearch, National Archives of Australia, 2000, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?Number=CA%20215. Details
• Bureau of Meteorology, 'A Brief History of the Bureau of Meteorology', 2001, http://www.bom.gov.au/inside/eiab/Bureauhistory.shtml. Details
• Gardner, J., 'Stormy Weather: a History of Research in the Bureau of Meteorology', in Federation and Meteorology, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/fam/0735.html. Details
• Gibbs, W. J., 'A Very Special Family: Memories of the Bureau of Meteorology 1946 to 1962', in Federation and Meteorology, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/fam/0830.html. Details

See also

• Antarctic Meteorology. Proceedings of the Symposium Held in Melbourne, February, 1959 (Melbourne: Pergamon Press, 1959). Details
• Gibbs, W. J., 'Meteorology at Heard and Macquarie Islands', The Meteorological magazine, 79 (1950), 168-70. Details
• Gibbs, W. J., The Origins of Australian Meteorology, Metarch Papers No. 12 (Bureau of Meteorology, 1998). Details
• Gibbs, W. J., 'The Origins of Australian Meteorology', in Federation and Meteorology, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/fam/0805.html. Details
• Home, R. W.; and Livingston, K. T., 'Science and Technology in the Story of Australian Federation: the Case of Meteorology, 1876-1908', Historical Records of Australian Science, 10 (2) (1994), 109-127. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9941020109. Details
• Colonial Observatories and Observations: Meteorology and Geophysics: Proceedings of a Conference held at St. Mary's College, University of Durham, 8-10 April, 1994 edited by Kenworthy, Joan M.; and Walker, J. Malcolm (Durham: Department of Geography, University of Durham in collaboration with Royal Meteorological Society, 1997). Details
• Lillywhite, J., 'My Early Years in the Bureau of Meteorology: the Formation of the Frosterley Club', in Federation and Meteorology, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/fam/0165.html. Details
• Marvin, U. B., 'Historic Advances in Meteoritics in Australia and Antarctica', 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. 52-58.. Details
• Moloney, T., 'Agrometeorology's Leading Lady', Weather News, 304 (August 1993) (1993), 20-21. Details
• Webb, Eric K. ed., Windows on Meteorology: Australian Perspective (Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, 1997), 342 pp. Details
• Zou, Jingmeng, 'Australia-China Cooperation in Meteorology', Australian Physicist, 26 (10) (1989), 235-240. Details