Simpson, Edward Sydney (1875 - 1939)

Summary

Edward Simpson, having just completed his BE in mining and metallurgy at the University of Sydney, was appointed the inaugural mineralogist and assayer to the Geological Survey of Western Australia in 1897. He was given control of the combined laboratories of the Health, Agriculture and Mines Departments in 1922 and these became the Government Chemical Laboratories. He was awarded a DSc by the University of Western Australia in 1919. His major monograph, the definitive Minerals of Western Australia was completed after his death by others and published in three volumes in 1948, 1951 and 1952. His research on Western Australia's gold deposits, rare minerals and ceramics was of vital importance to the development to the State's economy. His collection of over 5,000 mineral specimens, which served as a major reference on the minerals of Western Australia, is now housed in the Western Australian Museum. Simpson served terms as President of the Natural History and Science Society of Western Australia and the Royal Society of Western Australia. The mineral Simpsonite was named in his honour.

Details

Chronology

1895

Education - Bachelor of Engineering (BE(hons)), University of Sydney

1896

Career position - Assayer, engineer and chemist, Mount Morgan Gold Mining Co., Queensland

1897 - 1922

Career position - Mineralogist and Assayer, Geological Survey of Western Australia

1902 - 1915

Career position - Member, Advisory Board, Kalgoorlie School of Mines

1909 - 1913

Career position - Founding Member, Natural History and Science Society of Western Australia

1911 - 1912

Career position - President, Natural History and Science Society of Western Australia

1913 - 1939

Career position - Founding Member, Royal Society of Western Australia

1914

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc(Hons)), University of Western Australia

1914 - 1918

Career position - Director, 18-pounder Shell Factory, Western Australia

1917 - 1939

Award - Life Fellow, Chemical Society of London

1919

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Western Australia

1920 - 1921

Career position - President, Royal Society of Western Australia

1921 - 1926

Career position - Member of the Senate, University of Western Australia

1922 - ?

Career position - Government Mineralogist and Analyst, Government of Western Australia

1922

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

1926 - 1939

Award - Fellow Mineralogical Society of America

1927

Career position - Western Australian Representative, Committee of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

1929

Award - Medal of the Royal Society of Western Australia

1932

Award - H. G. Smith Memorial Medal, Royal Australian Chemical Institute

1934

Award - Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales

1935 - 1939

Career position - Trustee, Western Australian Museum and Art Gallery

1937

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

1938 - 1939

Career position - President, Royal Society of Western Australia

Related entries

Archival resources

State Records Office of Western Australia

• Edward Sydney Simpson - Records, 1896 - 1939, ACC 2776, AN 539; State Records Office of Western Australia. Details

Western Australian Museum

• Edward Sydney Simpson - Records, 1900 - 1939; Western Australian Museum. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Collins, David, Chemistry in 19th Australia - Select Bibliography, An exhibition of the Encyclopedia circa 2005 with assistance from Ailie Smith and Gavan McCarthy., eScholarship Research Centre (original publisher), Melbourne, 2009, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/ciab/ciab_ALL.html. Details

Book Sections

• Bevan, A. W. R., 'The Western Australian Museum meteorite collection' in The history of meteorites and key meteorite collections: fireballs, falls and finds, McCall, G. J. H., Bowden, A. J. and Howarth, R. J., eds (London: Geological Society, 2006), pp. 305-23. Details
• Prider, Rex T., 'Simpson, Edward Sydney (1875-1939), mineralogist and geochemist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 11: 1891 - 1939 Nes-Smi, Geoffrey Serle, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1988), pp. 610-611. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110626b.htm. Details

Conference Papers

• Laporte, L. F., 'Australia's Place in Simpson's Biogeography', in Useful and Curious Geological Enquiries beyond the World: Pacific-Asia Historical Themes: The 19th International INHIGEO Symposium, Sydney, Australia, 4-8 July, 1994 edited by D. F. Branagan and G. H. McNally (Sydney: International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences, 1994), pp. 7-13.. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Obituary: Dr. E. S. Simpson', Australian Journal of Science, 2 (2) (1939), 50. Details
• Bevan, A. W. R.; and Downes, P. J., 'Mineralogy at the Western Australian Museum', Australian Journal of Mineralogy, 6 (2) (2000), 93-100. Details
• Hall, Edgar; Simpson, Edward S., 'The Russell Process (of Silver Lixiviation) in Australia', Report of the seventh meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 7 (1898), 307-327, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15378273. Details
• Stocklmayer, Vernon, 'Australian eponymous minerals and the names behind them: Simpsonite, Western Australia', Australian journal of mineralogy, 20 (2) (2019), 37-9. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5345515. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/52908389. Details
• Geological Society of Australia, Australian geology hall of fame, Earth Sciences History Group, Geological Society of Australia, 2022. https://www.gsa.org.au/Public/Public/Specialist_Groups/ESHG_Sub_Pages/ESHG_Biographies.aspx?hkey=1bfc25ca-efd5-4f91-9536-dabf175139ce. Details
• 'Simpson, Edward S (1875-1939)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-638903. Details

See also

• De Laeter, J. R., 'Geochronology in Western Australia', Australian journal of earth sciences, 55 (6/7) (2008), 769-75, https://doi.org/10.1080/08120090802094127. Details