Person

Kay, Joseph Henry (1815 - 1875)

FRS

Born
1815
London, England
Died
17 July 1875
South Yarra, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Magnetician, Naval officer and Geophysicist

Summary

Joseph Kay was a naval officer who came to Tasmania as Lieutenant with the British Antarctic Expedition. During the Expedition's first visit to Hobart Town August to November 1840, Kay was involved with the Expedition's commander, James Clark Ross, and the Lieutenant Governor John Franklin in the establishment of the Rossbank Magnetic Observatory. Kay left the Expedition to become Director of the Observatory. For the next 13 years he conducted a program of research on the Earth's magnetic field, transmitting his observations to the Royal Society in London. When the Royal Navy withdrew funding for the Observatory in 1853, Kay was recalled. He later went to Victoria where he held various Government positions including aide to the Governor and Secretary to the Executive Council, which post he held at the time of his death. Kay was a foundation member of the Royal Societies of both Tasmania and Victoria.

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Details

Chronology

1827
Career event - Entered the Royal Navy
1839 - 12 November 1840
Career position - Lieutenant, H.M.S. Terror, British Antarctic Expedition
November 1840 - 1853
Career position - Director, Rossbank Magnetic Observatory, Hobart
1843
Career event - Foundation Member, Royal Society of Tasmania
1845 - 1855
Career position - Private Secretary to the Governor of Victoria
1846 - 1875
Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)
1849
Career event - Promoted Commander
1854 - 1855
Award - Honorary Member, Philosophical Society of Victoria
1855 - 1859
Award - Honorary Member, Philosophical Institute of Victoria
1855 - 1875
Career position - Clerk, Victorian Executive Council
1859 - 1875
Award - Honorary Member, Royal Society of Victoria
1865
Career event - Promoted Captain on the reserve list

Related Corporate Bodies

Related Cultural Objects

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Archival resources

Archives Office of Tasmania

  • Joseph Henry Kay - Records, 1841 - 1847, NS 37; Archives Office of Tasmania. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

Journal Articles

  • Kay, Commander [J. H.], 'Observations made for determining the geographical position of the magnetic Observatory at Hobart Town, Van Diemens Land', Report, papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemens Land, 1852/4 (1852/4), 264-87. Details
  • Kay, Commander [J. H.], 'Meteorological tables, Royal Observatory, Hobart Town', Report, papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemens Land, 1852/4 (1852/4), 292-307. Details
  • Kay, J. H., 'Terrestrial magnetism', Tasmanian journal of natural science, 1 (1842), 124-35. Details
  • Kay, J. H., 'Description of the instruments employed at the Magnetic Observatory, Tasmania', Tasmanian journal of natural science, 1 (1842), 207-24. Details
  • Kay, J. H., 'On solar radiation, with a description of the actinometer', Tasmanian journal of natural science, 2 (1846), 397-402. Details
  • Kay, J. H., 'On the aneroid barometer', Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemens Land, [1] (1851), 83-7. Details
  • Savours, Ann and McConnell, Anita, 'The History of the Rossbank Observatory, Tasmania', Annals of Science, 39 (1982), 527-564. Details

Resources

Resource Sections

See also

  • Science and the making of Victoria, with Royal Society of Victoria, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/smv/index_k.html. Details
  • Savours, Ann and McConnell, Anita, 'Return to Rossbank: Magnetism and Meteorology at Hobart in Theory and Practice, 1840-54', in 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), pp. 49-58.. Details

Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 6 October 2023

EOAS ID: biogs/P000530b.htm

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