Hector, James (1834 - 1907)

Summary

James Hector was sometime Director-General of the Geological Survey of Western Australia. For most of his career, however, he was in New Zealand where he was one of the leading scientists. He founded the Geological Survey of New Zealand and the Colonial Museum, and for many years was actively involved in the New Zealand Institute (later Royal Society of New Zealand). Hector also participated in the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science.

Details

Chronology

1856

Education - Graduated in medicine, University of Edinburgh

1857 - 1860

Career event - Surgeon and geologist, Palliser Expedition, Canada

1862 - 1865

Career event - Geological survey of Otago region, New Zealand

1865

Career event - Founded Geological Survey of New Zealand

1866

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

1866 - 1907

Award - Elected Fellow, Royal Society of Canada

1875

Award - Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)

1877

Award - Lyell Medal, Geological Society of London

1885 - 1903

Career position - Chancellor, University of New Zealand

1887

Award - Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG)

1887

Award - Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales

1888 -

Career event - Original [founding] member, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science

1888

Career position - Vice-President, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science

1888

Career position - Director, New Zealand Institute

1891

Award - Founders' Medal, Royal Geographical Society

1898

Career position - President, Section E (Geography), Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science

1906 - 1907

Career position - President, Royal Society of New Zealand

Related entries

Archival resources

Western Australian Museum

• James Hector - Records, 1860 - 1891; 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

Books

• Burns, Rowan and Nathan, Simon, My Dear Hooker: Transcriptions of Letters From James Hector to Joseph Dalton Hooker Between 1860 and 1898 (Lower Hutt, N.Z.: Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 2012), 208 pp. Details
• Burns, Rowan and Nathan, Simon, A Quick Run Home: Correspondence While James Hector was Overseas in 1875-1876 (Lower Hutt, N.Z: Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 2012), 142 pp. Details
• Hutton, Frederick Wollaston, Fishes of New Zealand, catalogue with diagnoses of the species (Wellington, N.Z.: Colonial Museum and Geological Survey Department, 1872), 133 pp. Details
• Mildenhall, Esme and Nathan, Simon, Letters From James Farmer to James Hector, 1876-1891 (Wellington: Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 2013), 133 pp. Details
• Nathan, Simon, James Hector: explorer, scientist, leader (Takaka, N.Z.: Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 2015), 264 pp. Details
• Nolden, Sascha, Burns, Rowan and Nathan, Simon, The Correspondence of Julius Haast and James Hector, 1862-1887 (Lower Hutt (N.Z.): Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 2012), 315 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Mason, Alan, 'Sir James Hector, 1834-1907' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). Details

Conference Proceedings

• Report of the third meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science edited by Hector, James (Sir) (Wellington, NZ: Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1891), i-xlii, 1-620 pp, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/52744. Details

Edited Books

• Nathan, Simon ed., The Amazing World of James Hector: Explorer, Geologist, Botanist, Natural Historian, Surgeon (Wellington: Awa Press, 2008), 185 pp. Details
• Yaldwyn, John and Hobbs, Juliet eds, My Dear Hector: Letters from Joseph Dalton Hooker to James Hector, 1862-1893 (Wellington: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 1998), 292 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Darragh, Thomas A., 'Charles Sturtevant Wood, Analyst, his Work and his Correspondence with James Hector', Historical Records of Australian Science, 7 (3) (1988), 231-271. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9880730231. Details
• Grapes, Rodney, 'First reports of in-situ "jade" (pounamu) in New Zealand: Johannes and George Forster (1777, 1778; 1783), James Hector (1863), Arthur Dieseldorf (1901), west coast Maori tradition', Journal of the Historical Studies Group, Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 70 (2021), 22-42. Details
• Hocken, A. G., 'The establishment of James Hector in Otago', Historical Studies Group Newsletter (Geological Society of New Zealand), 31 (2006), 36-50. Details
• Loosmore, Brian, 'James Hector (1834-1907): Doctor, Geologist, Explorer of Western Canada', Journal of Medical Biography, 17 (3) (2009), 174-176 . Details
• Nathan, Simon, 'Lettters written by and about James Hector', Journal of the Historical Studies Group, Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 44 (2013), 39-40. Details
• Nathan, Simon, 'James Hector and the First Geological Maps of New Zealand', Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 44 (2/3) (2014), 88-100. Details
• Thode, Simon, 'Bones and Words in 1870s New Zealand: the Moahunter Debate through Actor Networks ', British Journal for the History of Science, 42 (2) (2009), 225-244 . Details

Resources

• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/77839526. Details
• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q675726. Details
• 'Hector, James (1834-1907)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-991740. Details

Resource Sections

• Dell, R. K., 'Hector, James', in Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 1990. https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1h15/hector-james. Details

Theses

• Burnett, R. I., 'The life and work of Sir James Hector, with special reference to the Hector collection', MA thesis, University of Otago, 1936, 174, lxxxvii pp. Details
• Hocken, A. G., 'The early life of James Hector, 1834-1865: the first Otago Provincial Geologist', PhD thesis, University of Otago, 2007, 334 pp. Details
• Reid, Francis Lucian, 'The Province of Science: James Hector and the New Zealand Institute 1867-1903', PhD thesis, 2007, 210 pp. Details

See also

• Mildenhall, E.; Burns, Rowan; and Nathan, Simon, Transcriptions of Selected Letters From Frederick Wollaston Hutton to James Hector and Julius Haast (Lower Hutt (N.Z): Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 2012), 141 pp. Details
• Miskelly, C. M., 'Colonial ornithology in New Zealand - the legacy of the New Zealand Institute', Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 47 (3) (2017), 244-53. Details