Skertchly, Sydney Barber Josiah (1850 - 1926)

Summary

Josiah Skertchly had a varied career in geology and botany in Britain, the United States and Asia before migrating to Queensland in 1891. While Assistant Geologist with the Geological Survey of Great Britain he made ground-breaking discoveries on the antiquity of human existence in Britain. Later in Australia he was probably the first successfully to apply stratigraphic principles to attempt to establish the age of Aboriginal occupation. In 1895 Skertchly became Assistant Government Geologist, Queensland Geological Survey. Alongside his professional duties he immersed himself in the scientific life of Queensland, serving as President of the Royal Society of Queensland and the Queensland Naturalists' Club as its foundation. Skertchly lectured widely and wrote on natural history and science for the "Brisbane Courier" and other publications. Although not an optometrist, Skertchly was elected a member of the Institute of Ophthalmic Opticians of Queensland in its foundation year 1908. He played a prominent role in advocating for improved educational standards and professional practice as embodies in the Queensland Opticians Act of 1917. In 1927 Skertchly's archaeological collections were purchased by the Queensland Museum.

Details

Chronology

1870 - 1871

Career position - Assistant Geologist to the Viceroy of Egypt

1871 - ?

Career position - Member, Geological Society, London

1871 - 1881

Career position - Assistant Geologist, Geological Survey of Great Britain

1891

Life event - Migrated to Australia

1895 - 1897

Career position - Assistant Government Geologist, Queensland Geological Survey

1898

Career position - President, Royal Society of Queensland

1906

Career position - Founding President, Field Naturalists' Club of Queensland

1908 - ?

Career position - Member, Institute of Ophthalmic Opticians of Queensland

1909 - 1925

Career position - President of the examinations board, Institute of Ophthalmic Opticians of Queensland

1913

Life event - Retired

1915

Career position - President, Institute of Ophthalmic Opticians of Queensland

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Australian Botanists - Biographies, MS 064; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Private hands (Cooper, E.S.)

• Sydney Barber Josiah Skertchly - Records, 1850 - 1926; Private hands (Cooper, E.S.). Details

Private hands (Wright, C.)

• Sydney Barber Josiah Skertchly - Records, 1908 - 1958; Private hands (Wright, C.). Details

Queensland Department of Education

• Sydney Barber Josiah Skertchly - Records, 1891 - 1926; Queensland Department of Education. Details

Queensland Herbarium

• Sydney Barber Josiah Skertchly - Records, 1924; Queensland Herbarium. Details

Queensland State Archives

• Sydney Barber Josiah Skertchly - Records, 1909, EDU/45; Queensland State Archives. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Marks, E. N., 'Skertchly, Sydney Barber Josiah (1850-1926), scientist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 11: 1891 - 1939 Nes-Smi, Geoffrey Serle, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1988), pp. 621-622. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110638b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Longman, H. A., 'The late Professor S. B. J. Skertchly', Queensland naturalist, 5 (1926), 70-2. Details
• Vincent, Stephen J., 'Sydney Barber Josiah Skertchly (1850 - 1926): scientist, educator and advocate for Queensland optometry', Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 100 (2017), 402-6. Details
• Westaway, Michael C., 'Sydney B. J. Skertchly and the early Pleistocene archaeology at the Queensland Museum', Bulletin of the History of Archaeology, 22 (1) (2012), 14-8. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7659828. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/29916821. Details
• 'Skertchly, Sydney B J (1850-1927)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-477178. Details