Government Geologist (1847 - )

Summary

The government of Western Australia appointed several people to the office of Government Geologist in the 40 years from 1847, each employed for a specific task. Ferdinand von Sommer made several surveying journeys in the south-west of the colony, reporting to the government on supposed coal deposits and on the potential of the district for settlement and other mineral exploration. He left the Colony in 1848. Henry Brown, in two years, produced 10 reports and three geological maps. He was confident rich deposits would be found of lead, silver, copper, iron, and gold. The state of the colony's finances brought a end to Brown's appointment in 1872. Edward Hardman spent most of his three years as Government Geologist in the Kimberley district, with some surveys further south. Once again, the Colony's finances intervened and he returned to Ireland in 1885. Before leaving he gave the specimens he and his predecessors had collected to Charles Nicolay who ran a mineralogical museum in Fremantle: these specimens ultimately became part of the Western Australian Museum collections. Henry Woodward's appointment in 1888 was opportune, coinciding as it did with an upsurge of reports of the discovery of gold. He resigned in 1895, having produced a number of publications. Andrew Gibb Maitland was appointed in 1896, with a brief to establish the Geological Survey of Western Australia. On its establishment in 1897, the office of Government Geologist became integral to the Survey.

Related entries

Published resources

Edited Books

• Johns, R.K. ed., History and role of government geological surveys in Australia (Adelaide: South Australian Government Printer, 1976), 111 pp. Details