Madigan, Cecil Thomas (1889 - 1947)

Summary

Cecil Madigan was a geologist who participated in the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911 - 1914 as meteorologist at the Cape Denison base: during the Expedition he led explorations in Adelie Land and King George V Land. When most members of the Expedition left Antarctica in February 1913 Madigan and five other men remained to overwinter for another year awaiting the return of Douglas Mawson's overdue sledging party. After serving in the Royal Engineers during WWI and taking his degrees at the University of Oxford, Madigan returned to South Australia and held the position of Lecturer in Geology at the University of Adelaide for 25 years from 1922. During this time he made significant studies on the geology of the Fleurieu Peninsula (S.A.) and the MacDonnell Ranges (N.T.), when he pioneered the use of aircraft for scientific reconnaissance and photography. In 1939 he organised an expedition to the Simpson Desert, which he named, making a particular study of sand dunes.

Madigan's best-known publications are Central Australia (1936) and Crossing the dead heart (1946). He served as President of the Royal Society of South Australia from 1935 to 1936.

The Madigan Nunatak in Antarctica is named in his honour.

Details

Chronology

1910

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Adelaide

1911

Award - Rhodes Scholarship

1911 - 1914

Career position - Meteorologist, Cape Denison, Australian Antarctic Expedition

1914

Award - Polar Medal - Silver: 1912-14 (Scientist - Mawson's Australian Expedition)

1914 - 1918

Military service - First World War. Served with the Royal Engineers

1919

Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of Oxford

1920

Career position - Assistant Government Geologist, Sudan

1922

Education - Master of Arts (MA), University of Oxford

1922 - 1947

Career position - Lecturer in Geology, University of Adelaide

1926 - 1935

Career event - Elected Associate Member (Geology), Australian National Research Council

1933

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Oxford

1935 - 1936

Career position - President, Royal Society of South Australia

1935 - c. 1947

Career event - Elected Member (Geology), Australian National Research Council

1937

Career event - Fellow, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS)

1937

Career position - President, Section P (Geography and Oceanography), Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1939 - 1946

Career position - Member of Council, Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australia Branch

1940 - 1943

Military service - Second World War. Chief Instructor, School of Military Field Engineering, Liverpool, New South Wales

1945

Award - Sir Joseph Verco Medal, Royal Society of South Australia

Related entries

Archival resources

State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana

• Cecil Thomas Madigan - Records, 1927 - 1939, PRG 43; State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details

Published resources

Books

• Madigan, C. T., Tabulated and reduced records of the Cape Denison station, Adelie Land (Sydney: Government Printer, 1929), 286 pp. Details
• Madigan, C. T., Crossing the dead heart (Melbourne: Georgian House, 1946), 171 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Parkin, L. W., 'Madigan, Cecil Thomas (1889-1947), geologist and explorer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 10: 1891 - 1939 Lat-Ner, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986), pp. 374-376. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100367b.htm. Details
• Twidale, C. Rowland, 'The Study of Desert Dunes in Australia' in History of Geomorphology and Quaternary Geology, Grapes, R. H., Oldroyd, D. R. and Grigelis, A., eds (London: Geological Society, 2008), pp. 215-39. Details

Edited Books

• Madigan, J. W. ed., Madigan's Account: the Mawson expedition: the Antarctic Diaries of C. T. Madigan 1911-1914 (Hobart: Wellington Bridge Press, 2012), 608 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Madigan, C. T., 'Presidential address: A review of the arid regions of Australia and their economic potentialities [Section P - Geography and Oceanography]', Report of the twenty-third meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, Auckland meeting, January, 1937 (1937), 375-397. Details
• Madigan, C.T., 'The Past, Present and Future of the Society, and its Relations to the Welfare and Progress of the State.', Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia, lx (1936), i-xv. Details
• Madigan, J. A., 'Dr. C. T. Madigan', Nature, 159 (1947), 363-4. Details
• Twidale, C. R.; Parkin, L. W.; and Rudd, E. A., 'C.T. Madigan's contributions to geology in south and central Australia', Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 114 (1990), 157-67, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41131381. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q556794. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/94195901. Details
• CA 2002, 2 Echelon, Army Headquarters; CA 46, Department of Defence [III], Central Office, 'NAA: B884, N271634', B884 Citizen Military Forces Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=6190468. Details
• 'Madigan, C T (1889-1947)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-607285. Details

Reviews

• Madigan, J. W. ed., Madigan's Account: the Mawson expedition: the Antarctic Diaries of C. T. Madigan 1911-1914 (2012)
  Lucas, Anna, Polar Journal, 3, (2013), 260-1. Details

See also

• Chester, Jonathan, Going to extremes: Project Blizzard and Australia's Antarctic heritage (Sydney: Auckland: Doubleday Australia, 1986), 308 pp. Details
• Jensen, David, Mawson's remarkable men: the personal stories of the epic 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expediton (Sydeny: Allen and Unwin, 2015), 183 pp. Details
• Lugg, Desmond and Ayton, Jeff, 'In the Footsteps of McLean, Jones and Whetter: 100 Years of Australian Antarctic Medical Practice', Australian Antarctic Magazine, 22 (2012), 36-9. Details
• Stephens, C.G.; and Quirk, J.P., 'James Arthur Prescott 1890-1987', Historical Records of Australian Science, 7 (3) (1988), 299-313. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9880730299. Details