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Edgeworth David | |
|---|---|
 Tannatt William Edgeworth David, 1898 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Tannatt William Edgeworth David (1858-01-28)28 January 1858 |
| Died | 28 August 1934(1934-08-28) (aged 76) |
| Cause of death | Lobar pneumonia |
| Spouse | Caroline (Cara) David |
| Children | Margaret McIntyre Mary Edgeworth David William Edgeworth David |
| Education | Magdalen College School |
| Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Geologist, polar explorer |
| Known for |
|
| Civilian awards |
|
| Military service | |
| Branch |  First Imperial Force |
| Years of service | 1915–1919 |
| Rank | Lieutenant colonel |
| Unit | Australian Mining Corps |
| Wars | World War I |
| Military awards | |
Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth DavidKBE CMG DSO FRS (28 January 1858 – 28 August 1934) was aWelsh Australian geologist,Antarctic explorer, and military veteran. He was knighted for his role inWorld War 1.
A household name in his lifetime, David's most significant achievements were discovering the majorHunter Valley coalfield inNew South Wales, leading the first expedition to reach theSouth Magnetic Pole, and serving in the Tunnelling Corps during the war.
Tannatt William Edgeworth David was born on 28 January 1858, inSt Fagans nearCardiff, Wales, the eldest son of the Rev. William David, a fellow ofJesus College, Oxford, aclassical scholar andnaturalist, and his wife Margaret Harriette (née Thomson). His mother's cousin, William A. E. Ussher of theGeological Survey, first interested David in what was to be his life work.
At the age of 12, David went toMagdalen College School, Oxford in 1870. In 1876, he gained a classical scholarship toNew College, Oxford. While there he was lectured by the famousJohn Ruskin andWilliam Spooner. In 1878 he suffered a health breakdown and travelled to Canada and Australia to recuperate. Returning to Oxford, he attended lectures on geology by SirJoseph Prestwich which stimulated his interest in the subject. After graduating as a Bachelor of Arts without honours in 1880, he spent the following two years in field study of thegeology of Wales.
In November 1881 he read his first paper, "Evidences of Glacial Action in the Neighbourhood of Cardiff" before theCardiff Naturalists' Society. In the following year he briefly studied at theRoyal School of Mines, London, underJohn Wesley Judd.
David accepted the position of assistant geological surveyor to theGovernment of New South Wales, Australia, taking up his post in November 1882.
In 1884, his report on thetin deposits in theNew England district was published, and three years later it was expanded into theGeology of the Vegetable Creek Tin Mining Field, New England District. Apart from its scientific interest, this was valuable in connection with the mining operations on this field, from which some £10,000,000 worth of tin was won.
On 30 July 1885 he marriedCaroline (Cara) Mallett, principal of the Hurlstone Training College for Teachers, who had travelled to Australia in the same vessel with him.
In April 1886 he began surveying theHunter Valley coalfields, and in August discovered theGreta coal seam, which yielded over £50,000,000 worth of coal up to 1949. Much of his time during the next four years was spent nearMaitland, where he was still tracing and mapping the coal measures and reporting to the government on other matters of commercial value. David's assistant in 1890 wasWilliam Sutherland Dun.
In 1891, David was appointed professor of geology at theUniversity of Sydney, a position he held until 1924.
David's department was housed in a small cottage, its equipment was poor, and he had no lecturers or demonstrators; however he gradually got better facilities and built up his department. In 1892 he was president of the geological section of theAustralasian Association for the Advancement of Science at theHobart meeting, and held the same position atBrisbane in 1895. That year, David was elected president of theRoyal Society of New South Wales.
In 1896, David went to the Pacific atoll ofFunafuti as part of an expedition underProfessor William Sollas of Oxford in order to take borings which it was hoped would settle the question of the formation ofcoral atolls. There were defects in the boring machinery and the bore penetrated only slightly more than 100 ft (30 m). In 1897, David led a second expedition (that includedGeorge Sweet as second-in-command, andWalter George Woolnough) which succeeded in reaching a depth of 557 ft (170 m), after which he had to return to Sydney.
He then organised a third expedition in 1898 which, under the leadership of Alfred Edmund Finckh, was successful in carrying the bore to 1,114 ft (340 m).[1] The results provided support forCharles Darwin'stheory of subsidence, and the expeditions made David's name as a geologist.[2] Cara accompanied him on the second expedition and published a well-received account calledFunafuti, or Three Months on a Coral Island.
David's reputation was growing in Europe, and in 1899 he was awarded theBigsby Medal by theGeological Society of London, and in 1900 he was electedFellow of the Royal Society.
From 1900 to 1907 he conducted field studies of glaciation in theKosciusko plateau andPrecambrian glaciation inSouth Australia.[citation needed]
Douglas Mawson was enrolled for Bachelor of Engineering degree in mining andmetallurgy from 1899 until his graduation in 1902, and Edgeworth served not only as an influential mentor to Mawson, but as his referee for his appointment as a junior demonstrator inchemistry during this time.[3] In 1904, Mawson andT. H. Laby were the first to identifyradium-bearing ore in Australia, and David made the formal presentation of the paper to theRoyal Society of New South Wales on 5 October 1904 on the men's behalf.[3] In 1906 Mawson identified and first described the mineraldavidite (named after David), which containstitanium anduranium, atRadium Hill, South Australia.[3]
In 1904, David was elected president of theAustralasian Association for the Advancement of Science which met inDunedin, and in 1910 re-elected to presidency of the Royal Society of New South Wales. He attended the International Geological Congress held inMexico in 1906; on his way back to Australia visiting theGrand Canyon of the Colorado, and studying the effect of the San Francisco earthquake.
In mid-1907, David was invited to joinErnest Shackleton's AntarcticNimrod Expedition, and, in December, won Australian government funding for the expedition. The same month he left for New Zealand with Leo Cotton andDouglas Mawson, two of his former students. David was nearly 50 years of age and it was intended that he would stay only until April 1908, but en route to Antarctica on theNimrod he altered his plans and decided to stay for the entire duration of the expedition.
From 5 to 11 March 1908, David led the first ascent ofMount Erebus, the only activevolcano in Antarctica. David led the summit party consisting of Mawson,Alistair Mackay and himself, and there was a supporting party of three which it was afterwards decided should also attempt to reach the summit. In this they were successful in spite of a blizzard which barred their progress for a day and night. One member of the party had his feet badly frostbitten, and had to be left in camp before the final dash. David and four others reached the summit and the whole party returned to the base. During the winter of 1908, he would submit a chapter toAurora Australis, the first book written and published in Antartica, with his account of the ascent.[4]
On 5 October, David led Mawson and Mackay on an attempt to reach theMagnetic South Pole. For 10 weeks the men followed the coast north supplementing their stores with a diet of seals and penguins. They then crossed theDrygalski Ice Tongue and turned inland. They still faced a 700-kilometre (430 mi) return journey and established a depot to enable them to transfer their load to one overladen sled and to remove the need to relay. On 16 January 1909, they finally arrived at the South Magnetic Pole and took possession of the region for the British Crown.
David had been appointed leader by Shackleton, but by the end of January, with all three of the party experiencing severe physical deterioration, David was increasingly unable to contribute. On 31 January, Mackay exerted his authority as the party's doctor and threatened to declare the Professor insane unless he gave written authority of leadership to Mawson. Mawson took command, writing in his diary on 3 February: "the Prof was now certainly partly demented". That day the party reached the coast line with perfect timing; within 24 hours they were collected by theNimrod for the return trip toCape Royds. The trio had covered a distance of 1,260 miles (2,028 km), which stood as the longest unsupported sled journey until the mid-1980s.
The expedition returned to New Zealand on 25 March 1909. When David returned to Sydney he was presented with the Mueller medal by theAustralasian Association for the Advancement of Science at a rapturous official welcome. At Shackleton's request, David then went on a lecture tour and earned enough money to pay the expenses of publication of the two volumes on the geology of the expedition. He also wrote hisNarrative of the Magnetic Pole Journey, which appeared in the second volume of Shackleton'sHeart of the Antarctic.
In 1910, David became aCompanion of the Order of St Michael and St George, and visiting England in connection with the scientific results of the Antarctic expedition,Oxford University awarded him the honorary degree ofDoctor of Science. From 1911 to 1912, he provided public and practical support for theJapanese Antarctic Expedition, which was wintering in Sydney.[5][6] In 1913, David was elected president of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science for the second time and in 1926, was presented with theRoyal Geographical Society's Patron's Medal.[7]
WhenWorld War I broke out in 1914, David was a strenuous supporter of the war effort, supporting the campaign forconscription.[8] In August 1915, after reading reports about mining operations and tunnelling during theGallipoli Campaign, along with Professor Ernest Skeats, a professor at the University of Melbourne, David wrote a proposal to SenatorGeorge Pearce, the Australian Defence Minister, suggesting that the government raise a military force to undertakemining and tunnelling.[9] After the proposal was accepted, David used his advocacy and organisational abilities to set up theAustralian Mining Corps, and on 25 October 1915 he was appointed as amajor, at the age of 57.[10]
The first contingent of the corps consisted of 1,300 officers and men that were initially organised into twobattalions before being reorganised into three tunnelling companies, as well as an electrical and mechanical mining company.[11] After departing Australia for the United Kingdom in February 1916, the corps arrived on theWestern Front in May 1916.[12] Given the title 'Geological Adviser to the Controllers of Mines in the First, Second and Third Armies',[13] David became relatively independent and spent his time in geological investigations, using his expertise to advise on the construction of dugouts, trenches, and tunnels, the siting of wells for provision of pure drinking water from underground supplies, giving lectures, and producing maps.[14] In September 1916 he fell to the bottom of a well he was examining, breaking two ribs and rupturing hisurethra. He was invalided to London but returned to the Front in November, assuming the role of geological technical advisor to theBritish Expeditionary Force.[12][15]
On 7 June 1917 his wartime contribution culminated in the mining of German positions in theBattle of Messines.[16][17]
In January 1918, David was awarded theDistinguished Service Order and in November he was promoted tolieutenant colonel. The war having concluded, he was demobilised in 1919. He was alsoMentioned in Despatches twice.[18]
In 1896 the Davids bought 26 acres (10.5 hectares) at Woodford, in the Blue Mountains, with an existing weatherboard cottage, two-roomed with twoskillion rooms at the back. To emphasise his Welsh origins, Edgeworth David named the Woodford cottage ‘Tyn-y-Coed’, the 'house in the trees' (often mistranslated as 'the shack in the bush': 'ty' is a proper house in Welsh, not a mere hut).
In 1915 the Davids offered their home to the Red Cross convalescent home for the rehabilitation of injured servicemen and the Woodford Academy boys erected a flagstaff for the Union Jack and Red Cross flags for the soldiers in residence. When the Cooee marchers trooped past in November 1915 some of the wounded soldiers were brought up to the main road to greet the marchers.Although they had work and commitments in Sydney, Woodford was the David's primary residence from 1899 until 1920. They retained the Woodford cottage as a favoured country retreat until Edgeworth's death in 1934.Tyn-y-Coed was destroyed by bushfire in 1944 with only a chimney stump remaining. Its grounds are now occupied by eight modern houses, their gardens and adjoining bush.[19]
Coringah_Edgeworth_David_Garden_Hornsby_029.jpg)
In September 1920, David was created aKnight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services during the war.[18]
Returning to Australia, David purchased "Coringah", a cottage in the Sydney suburb ofHornsby. He also took up a long-cherished project, the writing of a definitive work,The Geology of the Commonwealth of Australia.
In 1921–22 David helped set up theAustralian National Research Council and served as its first president. In 1924 he retired as professor of geology at the University of Sydney, the chair passing to his student Leo Cotton, a neighbour inHornsby, New South Wales, whose brother Max Cotton created Lisgar Gardens in Hornsby.
In 1928 he discovered what he believed werePrecambrian fossils, creating controversy which remained until his death.
In 1931 he published theGeological Map of the Commonwealth and the accompanyingExplanatory Notes, designed to be part of hisGeology of the Commonwealth of Australia. He died in Sydney on 28 August 1934 without being able to complete this work and was given astate funeral.
David'sThe Geology of the Commonwealth of Australia was finally completed by his chosen collaborator, associate professorWilliam R. Browne in 1950. Of his many papers, over 100 will be found listed in theGeological Magazine for January 1922.
A travelling scholarship in his memory was founded at the University of Sydney in 1936.
TheEdgeworth David Medal is named in his honour. It is awarded by theRoyal Society of New South Wales for distinguished contributions by a young scientist under the age of thirty-five for work done mainly in Australia or its territories. The mineraldavidite is named after him, as was the Edgeworth David Building (demolished 2006) at the University of Sydney.
The Edgeworth David Building atTighes Hill TAFE campus in the New South Wales Hunter Valley is named in his honour.[20]
David Island, lying offDavis Peninsula in theShackleton Ice Shelf inAntarctica, is named for him.
Edgeworth David Base is the name of a summer station in theBunger Hills area of Antarctica. It has been maintained by Australia since 1986.
The suburb ofEdgeworth in the city ofNewcastle, New South Wales, is named after him.
TheEdgeworth David quarry inSeaham, New South Wales is named after David, who discoveredvarve shale there in 1914.
The boreholes onFunafuti, Tuvalu are known as "David's Drill".
In 1968 he was honoured on a postage stamp issued byAustralia Post.[21]
David's daughterMargaret McIntyre was the first woman elected to theParliament of Tasmania and was awarded theOrder of the British Empire.
In 1999, the David wooded family estateCoringah, in theNorthern Sydney suburb ofHornsby, was added to theNew South Wales State Heritage Register, listed as Edgeworth David's House and Grounds.[22] That same year, Hornsby Council acquiredCoringah.[23] Since 2016, the Edgeworth David Community Garden is located in the park which is called Edgeworth David Garden.[24]
Edgeworth David Avenue is an east-west road bridging theHornsby Shire suburbs ofHornsby,Waitara, andWahroonga. It was named after his death.[23]
...when the wind veered and Tyn-y-coed, undefended, went up in flames, leaving nothing but the usual residue of brick chimneys and hearths.
Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) underCC BY 4.0licence.
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by | Clarke Medal 1917 | Succeeded by |
