Person
Thureau, Gustav Adolph Hugo (1831 - 1901)
- Born
- 5 July 1831
Clausthal, Hanover, Germany - Died
- 9 March 1901
North Carlton, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Geologist and Mining engineer
Summary
Gustav Thureau was the first mines inspector and geologist appointed to Government service in Tasmania. Arriving in South Australia in 1849 he worked for a short time as an ore dresser in Burra Burra before moving to Victoria. Between 1852 and 1878 Thureau worked on various Victorian goldfields including Forest Creek, Maryborough, Ararat, Malmsbury Ballarat, Daylesford and Warrandyte, ultimately becoming manager and inspector of mining companies. He came to be regarded as an authority of the mining and geology of central Victoria and published on a number of articles on mineral deposits. For some time he was mining reporter for the Bendigo Advertiser and from 1875 to 1877 lectured on geology as it applied to mining and mineralogy at the Bendigo School of Mines. In 1877 he was delegated to visit California to study mining methods and innovations. After undertaking contract work evaluating mineral resources for the Tasmanian Government, in 1882 Thureau was appointed Inspector of Mines (styled Inspector and Mining Geologist from 1885). For ten years after retiring in 1889, Thureau worked as a mining consultant in Launceston, Tasmania, and Melbourne. The Thureau Hills, near Queenstown, Tasmania, and a number of fossils have been named after him.
Details
Chronology
- 1848
- Education - Graduated from Royal Academy of Mines, Clausthal, Germany
- 1849
- Life event - Migrated to Australia
- 1859
- Life event - Naturalised as a citizen of Victoria
- 1875
- Award - Elected Fellow, Geological Society of London
- 1875 - 1877
- Career position - Lecturer in geology, Bendigo School of Mines
- 1877 -
- Career position - delegate of Bendigo School of Mines to investigate mining in California
- 1882 - 1889
- Career position - Inspector of Mines (and Mining Geologist), Tasmanian Government
- 1883 -
- Career event - Foundation Member, Victorian Engineers Association
- 1884 - 1901
- Career event - Fellow, Royal Society of Tasmania
- 1885
- Life event - Naturalised as a citizen of Tasmania
- 1888
- Career event - Original [founding] member, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science
- 1889
- Life event - Retired
- 1896 - 1901
- Career position - Member, Geological Society of Australasia
Related entries
Published resources
Journal Articles
- Lerk, James A., 'Gustavus Adolphus Hugo Thureau (1831 - 1901) and the Bendigo School of Mines', Journal of Australasian mining history, 19 (2021), 133-42. Details
- McMullen, G.L., 'Gustav Thureau, the first Tasmanian Inspector of Mines and Government Mining geologist', Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 150 (1) (2016), 39-49. Details
- McMullen, Gabrielle L., 'An Able Practical and Scientific Man: Gustav Adolph Hugo Thureau, German Trained Mining Gelogist', Historical Records of Australian Science, 11 (2) (1996), 149-177. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9961120149. Details
- Preston, Keith, 'Mount Victoria goldfield, Tasmania: a case of unfulfilled potential?', Journal of Australasian Mining History, 11 (2011), 183-98. Details
Resources
- 'Thureau, Gustav Adolph Hugo (1831-1901)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1476050. Details
See also
- Haygarth, Nic, '"Many practical men deceived themselves": the disastrous hydraulic gold craze in Tasmania 1893 - 1901', Journal of Australasian mining history, 20 (2022), 37-49. Details
- McQueen, Ken, 'A challenging ore deposit geometry: history of the Mount Claude-Round Hill silver mine, northwest Tasmania', Journal of Australasian mining history, 20 (2022), 15-36. Details
Rosanne Walker and Helen Cohn
Created: 30 June 1997, Last modified: 16 August 2022