Corporate Body

Flagstaff Observatory for Geophysics, Magnetism and Nautical Sciences (1858 - 1863)

Colony of Victoria

From
March 1858
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
To
November 1863
Functions
Magnetic observation, Meteorology and Observatory

Summary

The Flagstaff Observatory was established on Flagstaff Hill, Melbourne, in 1858. It was the initiative of physicist Georg von Neumayer, who returned to Victoria in 1857 for his second visit to the colony with a view to conducting research on meteorology and terrestrial magnetism. Despite scepticism on the part of some politicians and fears that Neumayer's plans were antithetical to the establishment of an astronomical observatory, work began on magnetic and meteorological observations at Flagstaff in March 1858 with financial backing from the Victorian Government and the local German community. Official responsibility for meteorological measurements was passed to Flagstaff from the Lands Department in March 1859. Neumayer's research included a magnetic survey of Victoria, invaluable for magnetic correction of maps, and an analysis of ship's logs relating to ocean currents and prevailing winds. The Observatory ceased operations in 1863 when it merged with the Williamstown Observatory to form the Melbourne Observatory at a new site in South Yarra, just to the south of the city. Neumayer returned to Germany in 1864 and pursued a successful career in meteorology and hydrography.

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Timeline

 1858 - 1863 Flagstaff Observatory for Geophysics, Magnetism and Nautical Sciences
       1863 - 1944 Melbourne Observatory

Related People

Published resources

Books

  • Neumayer, G., Discussion of the meteorological and magnetical observations made at the Flagstaff Observatory, Melbourne during the years 1858-1863 (Mannheim, Germany: J. Schneider, 1867), 160 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Home, R. W., 'Georg von Neumayer and the Flagstaff Observatory, Melbourne' in From Berlin to the Burdekin: The German Contribution to the Development of Australian Science, Exploration and the Arts, David Walker and Jurgen Tampke, eds (Sydney: New South Wales University Press, 1991), pp. 40-53. Details

Journal Articles

  • Home, R. W.; and Kretzer, Hans-Jochen, 'The Flagstaff Observatory, Melbourne: New Documents Relation to its Foundation', Historical Records of Australian Science, 8 (4) (1991), 213-244. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9910840213. Details
  • Neumayer, G., 'Description and system of working at the Flagstaff Observatory', Transactions of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria, 3 (1859), 94-103. Details
  • Perdrix, John L., 'Flagstaff Hill and its Observatory', Australian Journal of Astronomy, 3 (3) (1990), 113-124. Details

Resource Sections

Theses

  • Cohn, Helen M., 'Some Foundations of Science in Victoria in the Decade After Separation', MA thesis, University of Melbourne, 1990. Details

See also

  • Neumayer, G., Results of the meteorological observations taken in the colony of Victoria during the years 1859-1862; and of the nautical observations collected and discussed at the Flagstaff Observatory, Melbourne, during the years 1858-1862 (Melbourne: Government Printer, 1864), 392 pp. Details
  • Neumayer, G., Results of the Magnetic Survey of the colony of Victoria executed in the years 1858-1864 (Mannheim, Germany: J. Schneider, 1869), 202 pp. Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 3 March 2020, Last modified: 15 February 2024

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