Brisbane, Thomas Makdougall (1773 - 1860)

Summary

Sir Thomas Brisbane, a respected and successful soldier, was Governor of New South Wales 1821-1825. During this period he furthered his astronomical studies, built an observatory at Parramatta and made the first extensive observations of the southern stars since Lacaille in 1751-1752.

Details

Born near Largs, Ayrshire, Scotland, 23 July 1773. Died Largs, 27 January 1860. KCB 1814; KCH 1817; Baronet 1836; GCB 1837. Educated University of Edinburgh and the English Academy, Kensington. Commissioned an Ensign in the 38th Regiment 1789; in Ireland 1790; captain in Flanders 1793-98; major in the West Indies 1795-99; lieutenant-colonel, 69th Regiment, Jamaica 1800-03; served in England 1803-05; built the second observatory in Scotland at Brisbane House 1808; promoted colonel 1810; promoted brigadier-general 1812; promoted general 1841; governor of New South Wales 1821-25. Set up an agricultural training college in New South Wales and was the first patron of the New South Wales Agricultural Society 1822. Conducted (largely unsuccessful) experiments in growing Virginian tobacco, Georgian cotton, Brazilian coffee and New Zealand flax. Built an observatory at Parramatta and made the first observations of stars in the southern hemisphere since Lacaille's in 1751-52; built another observatory at Makerstoun 1826; later became president of the Edinburgh Astronomical Institution and did much to make the Edinburgh Royal Observatory highly efficient. Fellow, Royal Society 1810. President, Royal Society of Edinburgh 1832.

Chronology

1821 - 1825

Career position - Governor of the Colony of New South Wales

1822

Career position - Inaugural Patron, New South Wales Agricultural Society

Related entries

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Christian Carl Ludwig Rümker - Records, 1825 - 1845, MS Q569; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Thomas Makdougall Brisbane - Records, 1715 - 1860, MS 1191; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Thomas Makdougall Brisbane - Records, 1812 - 1837, FM 4/1626-7; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Thomas Makdougall Brisbane - Records, 1818 - 1849, ML MSS 419; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Thomas Makdougall Brisbane - Records, 1824 - 1836, A2166; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• Thomas Makdougall Brisbane - Records, 1812 - 1858, MS 4036; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

• Brisbane, Thomas, Reminiscences of General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane : of Brisbane and Makerstoun, Bart (Edinburgh: Thomas Constable, 1860), 128 pp. Details
• Gibbs, W. J., The Origins of Australian Meteorology, Metarch Papers No. 12 (Bureau of Meteorology, 1998). Details

Book Sections

• Sweetman, John and Mcconnell, Anita, 'Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1773-1860' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). Details

Journal Articles

• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'A Governor's Observatory', Astronomy & Geophysics, 52 (2) (2011), 2.31, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-4004.2011.52231.x/full. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Some Scientific Aspects of Parramatta Observatory', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 145 (2012), 111-27. Details
• Liston, Carol, 'Sir Thomas Brisbane - a man of scientific method', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 145 (2012), 136-45. Details
• Maiden, J. H., 'Portraits of Scientific Men of New South Wales', Journal and Proceedings of The Royal Society of New South Wales, xliv (1912), 17-20. Details
• Morrison-low, A. D., 'The Soldier-Astronomer in Scotland: Thomas Makdougall Brisbane's Scientific Work in the Northern Hemisphere', Historical Records of Australian Science, 15 (2) (2004), 151-176. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR04008. Details
• O'Hagan, J. E., 'Sir Thomas Brisbane, FRS, A Founder of Organised Science in Australia.', Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, vi (1960), 594-603. Details
• Russell, H.C., 'Astronomical and Meteorological Workers in New South Wales, 1778-1860', Report of the first meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1 (1888), 45-94, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15813133. Details
• Saunders, Shirley D., 'Sir Thomas Brisbane's Legacy to Colonial Science: Colonial Astronomy at the Parramatta Observatory, 1822-1848', Historical Records of Australian Science, 15 (2) (2004), 177-209. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR04009. Details
• Tyler, Peter J., 'Seeing Stars in the City: a History of Early Astronomy in Sydney', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 142 (3/4) (2009), 1-14. Details
• Tyler, Peter J., 'Sir Thomas Brisbane - Patron of Colonial Science', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 145 (2012), 128-35. Details

Resources

• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/94380103. Details
• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q376367. Details
• 'Brisbane, Thomas (1773-1860)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-615751. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Brisbane, Thomas Makdougall', in Physics in Australia to 1945, R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham, Australian Science Archives Project, June 1995, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P000262p.htm. Details
• Gibbs, W. J., 'The Origins of Australian Meteorology', in Federation and Meteorology, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/fam/0805.html. Details

See also

• Federation and Meteorology, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/fam/index_b.html. Details
• Haynes, Raymond, Haynes, Roslynn, Malin, David and McGee, Richard, Explorers of the Southern Sky: a History of Australian Astronomy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 540 pp. Details
• Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details