Person

Ainsworth, George Frederick (1878 - 1950)

Born
20 June 1878
Charleston, New South Wales, Australia
Died
11 October 1950
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Antarctic explorer, Businessman and Meteorologist

Summary

George Ainsworth was a teacher in the New South Wales Department of Public Instruction before an interest in meteorology prompted him to join the Central Weather Bureau in Melbourne. In 1911 he was appointed Leader and Meteorologist of the Macquarie Island party of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. He established the radio station on Wireless Hill, providing the vital relay link for the first radio communications between Antarctica and Australia. As meteorologist Ainsworth made daily meteorological readings. The party achieved significant results despite Ainsworth's leadership style not sitting well with his companions. His account of the party's activities was included in Mawson's Home of the blizzard (1915) while his meteorological data were published in 1929. During WWI Ainsworth served in military intelligence. His later career included several years as Head of the Foreign Section of the Prime Minister's Department before leaving the public service to join the private sector. Mount Ainsworth, Macquarie Island, was named in his honour.

Details

Chronology

1893 - 1910
Career position - Assistant Teacher, Department of Public Instruction, New South Wales
1910 - 1911
Career position - Assistant, Central Weather Bureau, Department of Home Affairs, Melbourne
December 1911 - November 1913
Career position - Leader and Meteorologist, Macquarie Island party, Australasian Antarctic Expedition
1915
Award - Polar Medal (Silver)
1915 - 1917
Career position - Served with the Australian 62nd Infantry Battalion
1917 - 1919
Career position - Chief, Special Intelligence Bureau, Counter Espionage Bureau Queensland
1919 - 1921
Career position - Inspector-in-Charge, Investigation Branch, Commonwealth Attorney General's Department, Queensland
1921 - 1924
Career position - Head, Foreign Section, Prime Minister's Department
1923
Career position - Foreign affairs officer, Australian delegation Imperial Economic Conference, London
1925 - 1929
Career position - Business Manager, Kellow-Falkiner (car dealership)
1929 - 1930
Career position - General Manager, Chrysler Corporation, New Zealand
1930 - 1935
Career position - General Manager, Barnet Glass Rubber, Queensland
1935 - 1937
Career position - State organiser, Queensland, United Australian Party
1938 - 1947
Career position - Meteorologist, Rose Bay Station, Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales

Related Events

Published resources

Books

  • Ainsworth, G. F.; Power, H.; and Tulloch, A. C., Tabulated and reduced records of the Macquarie Island station: recorders G. Ainsworth, H. Power and A. C. Tulloch; reduction and tabulation of data by direction of H. A. Hunt and under superintendence of B. W. Newman (Sydney: Government Printer, 1929), 544 pp. Details

Book Sections

Journal Articles

  • Ainsworth, J., 'Captain George Frederick Ainsworth, Queensland's Special Intelligence Bureau Chief, 1917 - 1919', Royal Historical Society of Queensland journal, 17 (5) (2000), 193-212. Details

See also

  • Jensen, David, Mawson's remarkable men: the personal stories of the epic 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expediton (Sydeny: Allen and Unwin, 2015), 183 pp. Details
  • Mawson, Douglas, The home of the blizzard: being the story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911 - 1914, 2 vols (London: J.B. Lippincott: Heinemann, 1915). Details

Helen Cohn

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