Piesse, Edmund Leolin (1880 - 1947)

Summary

Edmund Piesse BSc LLB was a prominent practicing solicitor in company law, and lectured in company taxation at the University of Melbourne. However, in his early career he helped prepare the first military survey maps of Tasmania, and during the First World War was a Major in, and Director of Military Intelligence, researching the geopraphy and nations of the Pacific, including Japan. In 1918 he established the first school of Oriental studies at the University of Sydney, headed by Professor James Murdoch. After the war he was a senior advisor to the Australian Government on the Pacific, visited Japan in 1919, attended the first meeting of the League of Nations in Geneva in 1920, and the Washington Conference on the limitation of armaments in 1921.

Piesse was a member, Secretary and Treasurer of the Royal Society of Tasmania, and presented and published a history of the Society in 1913, and other papers including one on the theory of quotas in proportional representation. In 1923 he was elected a member of the geography section of the Australian National Research Council.

Details

Chronology

1900

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Tasmania

c. 1900

Education - Bachelor of Law (LLB), University of Tasmania

c. 1901 - c. 1902

Education - Studied Mathematics, King's College, University of Cambridge [Abandoned when he returned to Tasmania on the death of his father Frederick William Piesse MHR]

c. 1902 - c. 1914

Career position - Practicing solicitor, in Tasmania

1909

Career event - Lieutenant, Australian Intelligence Corps (Tasmanian District), Department of Defence [Helped prepare the first military survey map of Tasmania]

1910 -

Career position - Member, Commonwealth Meteorological Board - nominated by Tasmanian Government. [Helped co-ordinate the observation of the Solar eclipse in Tasmania]

1911

Career event - Captain, Australian Intelligence Corps (Tasmanian District), Department of Defence

1912 - 1914

Career position - Secretary, Royal Society of Tasmania

1915 - 1919

Military service - Honorary Major, Australian Field Artillery, Australian Military Forces

1916 - 1919

Career position - Director of Military Intelligence, Defence Department, Melbourne

1918

Career event - Established the first school of Oriental studies, University of Sydney

1919 - c. 1922

Career position - Director, Pacific Branch, Prime Minister's Department

1920

Career event - Attended the first meeting of the League of Nations, Geneva [with Senator Millen, Minister for Repatriation]

1921 - 1922

Career event - Attended Washington Conference on the limitation of armaments [As adviser to Sir George Pearce, Minister for Defence]

1921 - 1947

Career position - Member, Royal Society of Victoria

c. 1922 - c. 1923

Career position - Inaugural Secretary, Department of External Affairs

1923 -

Career event - Elected Member (Geography), Australian National Research Council

1923 - 1947

Career position - Practicing solicitor, in Victoria

c. 1930 - c. 1947

Career position - Conducted a course in company taxation, University of Melbourne

1932 - 1945

Career position - Editor, Victorian Law Institute Journal

1935

Career event - Published book: Japan and the Defence of Australia

c. 1940 - c. 1947

Career position - Senior partner, Company Solicitor, Davies, Campbell and Piesse

1942 - 1944

Career position - President, Law Institute of Victoria

Related entries

Published resources

Book Sections

• Meaney, N. K., 'Piesse, Edmund Leolin (1880 - 1947), foreign policy analyst and lawyer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 11: 1891 - 1939 Nes-Smi, Geoffrey Serle, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1988), pp. 227-229, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/piesse-edmund-leolin-8046. Details

Journal Articles

• Piesse, E. L., 'The Foundation and Early Work of the Society with Some Account of Other Institutions of Early Hobart', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1913 (1913), 117-166. http://eprints.utas.edu.au/16587/1/1913-Piesse_The_foundation_of_the_society.pdf. Details

Newspaper Articles

• 'Obituary: Mr. E. L. Piesse', The Age (1947), 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206015845. Details