Corporate Body

British Astronomical Association, New South Wales Branch (1895 - )

From
1895
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Functions
Astronomy or Space Science, Citizen science and Professional Association
Alternative Names
  • Sydney City Skywatchers (Subsequent name, 2004 - )
Website
https://www.sydneycityskywatchers.org.au/

Summary

The New South Wales Branch of the British Astronomical Association was founded in 1895. In 1894 Walter Gale, Robert Innes and John Tebbutt, together with other local members of the Association, petitioned for the establishment of the Branch. The inaugural meeting was held on 30 January 1895, Tebbutt being elected President. Early members included most of the astronomers active in New South Wales at the time. Monthly meetings were held, a newsletter circulated and special interest sections formed. The Branch had close connections with the Sydney Observatory, several directors of which served as President of the Branch. Of the four Australian Branches of the Association, only that of New South Wales is still in existence.

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Related People

Published resources

Books

  • Orchiston, Wayne, A History of the New South Wales Branch of the British Astronomical Association from 1945 to 1990 (Gisborne N.Z: privately published, 1990), 25 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Lomb, Nick, 'Closing encounters: the efforts of the NSW Branch of the British Astronomical Association to save Sydney Observatory' in Essays on astronomical history and heritage: a tribute to Wayne Orchiston on his 80th birthday, Gullberg, Steven and Robertson, Peter, eds (Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2023), pp. 557-82, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29493-8_28. Details

Journal Articles

  • Orchiston, W., 'Illuminating Incidents in Antipodean Astronomy: Formation of the New South Wales Branch of the British Astronomical Association', Journal of the British Astronomical Association, 98 (2) (1988), 75-84. Details
  • Orchiston, W., 'The New South Wales Branch', British Astronomical Association memoir, 42 (2) (1990), 48-53. Details
  • Orchiston, W., and Bembrick, C., 'The potency of patronage: George Hoskins and the New South Wales Branch of the British Astronomical Association', Australian Journal of Astronomy, 7 (1997), 1-15. Details
  • Orchiston, Wayne and Perdrix, J., 'A History of the British Astronomical Association in Australia: the Fate of the Branches', Journal of the British Astronomical Association, 112 (2002), 68-77. Details
  • Orchiston, Wayne and Perdrix, John, 'The British Astronomical Association in Australia: a Centennial Perspective', Australian Journal of Astronomy, 3 (4) (1990), 163-170. Details

See also

  • Orchiston, Wayne, 'Amateur-Professional Collaboration in Australian Science: the Earliest Astronomical Groups and Societies', Historical Records of Australian Science, 12 (2) (1998), 163-182. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9981220163. Details
  • Orchiston, Wayne, 'William John Macdonnell and the Development of Astronomy in New South Wales', Journal of the British Astronomical Association, 111 (2001), 13-25. Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 22 January 2026

EOAS ID: biogs/P007955b.htm

This Edition: 2026 February - 1926 Centenaries
Kooyang - Gariwerd calendar - Late summer: late January to late March - season of eels
Reference: https://www.bom.gov.au/resources/indigenous-weather-knowledge/indigenous-seasonal-calendars/gariwerd-calendar#bom-anchor-list__item-kooyang-season-of-eels

Publisher: Swinburne University of Technology.

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