Marston, Hedley Ralph (1900 - 1965)

Summary

Hedley Marston was a biochemist who, despite the lack of university qualifications, had a distinguished career at CSIR (later CSIRO) for 38 years. He joined the Division of Animal Nutrition in 1928 and was serving his second term as Acting Chief when in 1936 his laboratory was made subsidiary to the new Division of Animal Health and Nutrition. Marston's reaction was to work against the new Division's Chief, Lionel Bull, and to agitate for his own Division. This he achieved in 1944 with the creation of the Division of Biochemistry and General Nutrition. Much of the research conducted by Marston's staff concerned the nutrition of sheep and cattle, in particular trace element deficiencies because of the soil on which they were grazing, and the successful development of programs to overcome the problem. By publishing this research only after it had come to a conclusion, and generally under his own name, he deprived his staff of due recognition. This was notable in the discovery by Ted Lines and Dick Thomas that coast disease in sheep was caused by cobalt deficiency. Marston was invited to participate in research to assess to biological effects of British nuclear testing in Australia. This brought him into conflict with the Atomic Weapons Safety Committee, when he reported contamination to be higher than the Committee stated. He was ultimately vindicated. Marston was a foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and became a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1949.

Details

Chronology

1922 - 1928

Career position - Demonstrator, Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, University of Adelaide

1928 - 1930

Career position - Biochemist, CSIR Division of Animal Nutrition

1930 - 1931

Career position - Acting Chief, CSIR Division of Animal Nutrition

1933 - 1935

Career position - Acting Chief, CSIR Division of Animal Nutrition

1936 - 1944

Career position - Officer-in-Charge Animal Nutrition Laboratory, CSIR Division of Animal Health and Nutrition

1937 - 1938

Career position - Visiting Fellow, University of Cambridge

1938 - 1953

Award - Fellow, Australian Chemical Institute

1944 - 1949

Career position - Chief, CSIR Division of Biochemistry and General Nutrition

1949 - 1965

Career position - Chief, CSIRO Division of Biochemistry and General Nutrition

1949 - 1965

Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)

1950

Award - Archibald Liversidge Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales

1953 - 1965

Award - Fellow, Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI)

1953 - 1965

Award - Petitioner for the Academy, Founding Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1957

Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa, Australian National University

1958

Award - Mueller Medal, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1959

Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), ad eundem gradum, University of Adelaide

1962 - 1965

Award - Fellow, Australian Society of Animal Production

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Albert Cherbury David Rivett - Records, 1887 - 1961, MS 083; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details
• Hedley Ralph Marston - Records, 1846 - 1968, MS 048; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• Hedley Ralph Marston - Records, 1879 - 1963, MS 1682; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• Hedley Ralph Marston - Records, 1915 - 1969, MS 8203; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Smith, Ailie, Adolph Basser Library Manuscript Collection, eScholarship Research Centre, 2012, http://www.eoas.info/basser_browse.html. Details

Books

• Cross, Roger T., Fallout: Hedley Marston and the British bomb tests in Australia (Kent Town, South Australia: Wakefield Press, 2001), 238 pp. Details
• Marston, Hedley R., The Cobalt Story (Sydney: Royal Australasian College of Physicians, 1959), 26 pp. Details
• Walker, Frank, Maralinga: The chilling expose of our secret nuclear shame and betrayal of our troops and country (Sydney (Gadigal Country): Hachette Australia, 2016). Details

Book Sections

• Cross, Roger, 'Marston, Hedley Ralph (1900-1965), Biochemist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 15: 1940 - 1980 Kem-Pie, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2000), pp. 310-312. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A150369b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Obituary: Hedley Ralph Marston', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, 32 (9) (1965), 216. Details
• Marston, H. R., 'Albert Cherbury David Rivett 1885 - 1961', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 12 (1966), 437-55, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1966.0021. Details
• Marston, Hedley, R., 'Thorburn Brailsford Robertson', Australian Journal of Experimental Biology and Medical Science, 9 (1) (1932), 1-5. Details
• Schedvin, C. B., 'Environment, Economy and Australian Biology 1890-1939', Historical Studies, 21 (1984), 11-28. Details
• Synge, R. L. M., 'Hedley Ralph Marston 1900 - 1965', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 13 (1967), 267-93. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1967.0014. Details
• Underwood, E. J., 'Hedley Ralph Marston', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 1 (2) (1967), 73-86. http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9670120073.htm. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5697475. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/45087403. Details
• 'Marston, Hedley R (1900-1965)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-575429. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Marston, Hedley Ralph - Ms 48', in Listing of Adolph Basser Library holdings, Australian Academy of Science, 1994, http://www.science.org.au/basser/manuscript-collection/ms048.html. Details
• Underwood, E. J., 'Hedley Ralph Marston 1900-1965', in Australian Academy of Science Biographical Memoirs, Australian Academy of Science, 2006, https://www.science.org.au/fellowship/fellows/biographical-memoirs/hedley-ralph-marston-1900-1965. Details
• Ward, C., 'Hedley Ralph Marston', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2011, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/Marston-Hedley-Ralph. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_m.html. Details
• French, E. L.; and Stewart, D.F., 'Lionel Bately Bull, 1889-1978', Historical Records of Australian Science, 5 (4) (1983), 90-110. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9830540090. Details
• Morison, Patricia, The Martin spirit: Charles Martin and the foundation of biological science in Australia (Canberra: Halstead Press, 2019), 296 pp. Details
• Rogers, W. P., 'Jack Ellerton Becker 1904-1979', Historical Records of Australian Science, 5 (3) (1982), 92-107. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9820530092. Details