Person

Smalley, George Robarts (1822 - 1870)

Born
1822
Banbury, Oxfordshire, England
Died
11 July 1870
New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Astronomer

Summary

George Smalley was Government Astronomer and the second Director of the Sydney Observatory from 1864 to 1870. He was appointed on the recommendation of Astronomer Royal George Airy, whose program for the Observatory proved too ambitious for the available facilities. Smalley's interests were mainly meteorology and trigonometric surveying rather than celestial astronomy. He organised the automatic recording of harbour tides at Fort Denison, and expanded network of volunteer weather observers throughout the colony, with data being telegraphed on a daily basis. Magnetic and geodetic surveys of New South Wales were instituted by Smalley. With Charles Todd he fixed boundary between South Australia and New South Wales. Smalley palyed a major role in the transformation of the Philosophical Society of New South Wales to the Royal Society. He was an early advocate for the greater participation of women in science.

Details

Chronology

1846
Education - BA, St John's College, University of Cambridge
1846 - 1851
Career position - Third Assistant, Cape Observatory, South Africa
1851 - 1854
Career position - Professor of Mathematics, South African College, Cape Town, South Africa
1854 - 1862
Career position - Teacher of mathematics, King's College, London
1864
Life event - Migrated to New South Wales
1864 - 1870
Career position - Government Astronomer, Sydney Observatory
1865
Career position - Member of Council, Philosophical Society of New South Wales
September 1865 - 1866
Career position - Member, Philosophical Society of New South Wales
1867 - 1870
Career position - Vice-President, Royal Society of New South Wales

Related Corporate Bodies

Archival resources

Powerhouse Museum

  • George Robarts Smalley - Records, 1864 - 1870; Powerhouse Museum. Details

Published resources

Books

  • Wood, H. W., Sydney Observatory, 1858 to 1958 (Sydney: 1958). Details

Book Sections

Journal Articles

  • Clarke, W. B., 'Annivesary address', Transactions of the Royal Society of New South Wales, [4] (1871), 1-48. Details
  • Smith, J., 'Opening address to the Royal Society, delivered at its first meeting, 12th May, 1871', Transactions of the Royal Society of New South Wales, [5] (1872), 1-14. Details
  • Tyler, Peter J., 'Seeing Stars in the City: a History of Early Astronomy in Sydney', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 142 (3/4) (2009), 1-14. Details
  • Wood, H., 'Sydney Observatory 1858-1983', Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 5 (2) (1983), 273-281. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1323358000017094. Details

Resources

Resource Sections

See also

Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn

EOAS ID: biogs/P000131b.htm

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