Person

King, Georgina (1845 - 1932)

Born
6 June 1845
Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia
Died
June 1932
Darling Point, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Anthropologist and Geologist

Summary

Georgina King was self-taught and, encouraged by George Bennett, developed an interest in geology. However, she propounded eccentric theories and was frustrated by lack of recognition by scientists and learned societies. The National Herbarium of Victoria holds almost 300 of King's specimens.

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Details

Undertook field studies in geology during the 1860s and early 1870s. Travelled to England, Ireland and Europe 1881, where she studied rock formations and collected specimens. Worked on her collection on her return to Sydney. Joined the first Science Congress held in Sydney in 1888. Believed she had discovered that Australian mineral wealth was "intrusive and found in eruptive rock, and with it the origins of nuggets." Fellow, Royal Anthropological Society of Australasia.

Related Corporate Bodies

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

  • Ferdinand Jakob Heinrich von Mueller - Records, 581.61 2C1; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
  • Georgina King - Records, 1888 - 1921, ML MSS 2117; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
  • Georgina King - Records, 1889 - 1930, ML MSS 273; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Herbarium, Melbourne

  • Georgina King - Records, 1894, MSS M13; National Herbarium, Melbourne. Details

Powerhouse Museum

  • Georgina King - Records, 1892 - 1900, MRS 4, MRS 202; Powerhouse Museum. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

  • McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Books

  • Carey, Jane, Taking to the field: a history of Australian women in science (Clayton, Vic.: Monash University Press, 2023), 297 pp. Details
  • Carter, Jennifer M. T.; and Cross, Roger, Ginger for pluck: the life and times of Miss Georgina King (Kent Town (S.A.): Wakefield Press, 2013), 304 pp. Details
  • Hooker, Claire, Irresistible Forces: Australian Women in Science (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2004), 215 pp. Details
  • King, Georgina, The Palaeozoic Carboniferous Formations in New South Wales and the Occurrence of Our Mineral Wealth (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1895). Details
  • King, Georgina, The Mineral Wealth of New South Wales (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1906), 33 pp. Details
  • King, Georgina, The Mineral Wealth of New South Wales and Other Lands and Countries (Sydney: William Brooks, 1911), 36 pp. Details
  • King, Georgina, The Antiquity of the Aborigines of Australia and Tasmania (Sydney: William Brooks, 1924), 24 pp. Details
  • King, Georgina, Evolution: the Discovery of the Missing Link (Sydney: William Brooks, 1926), 31 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Bygott, Ursula and Hooker, Claire, 'King, Georgina (1845-1932), Amateur Geologist and Anthropologist' in Australian dictionary of biography: supplement 1580 - 1980, with a name index to the Australian dictionary of biography to 1980, Christopher Cunneen, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2005), pp. 216-217. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/AS10267b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

  • Branagan, D. F., 'Georgina King: Geological Prophet or Lost?', The University of Sydney Archives Record (1982), 4-9. Details
  • Bygott, Ursula, 'Georgina King: Amateur Geologist and Anthropologist', The University of Sydney Archives Record, 9 (2) (1982), 12-17. Details

Resources

See also

  • Maroske, Sara and Vaughan, Alison, 'Ferdinand Mueller's Female Plant Collectors: a Biographical Register', Muelleria, 32 (2014), 92-172. Details

McCarthy, G.J.

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 5 March 2019

EOAS ID: biogs/P001169b.htm

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