Biographical entry Tate, Ralph (1840 - 1901)

Summary

Ralph Tate was the first Elder Chair of Natural Science at the University of Adelaide (1875-1901) and published widely on geology, zoology and botany. His book titled the Handbook of the Flora of Extratropical South Australia was the first of its kind and a crucial resource for future botanical studies in South Australia. Tate was a member of many national and international scientific bodies and his reputation helped persuade the South Australian Government to appoint a Government Geologist.

Details

Events

1864 - c. 1867

Career position - Assistant Curator at the museum of the Geological Society of London

1867 - 1868

Career position - Mining Prospector in central America and Venezuela

1875 -

Career position - Inaugural Elder Chair of Natural Science at the University of Adelaide

1877

Career position - Founder of the colony's first continuing scientific journal, which later became the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia

1880

Career position - Converted the Adelaide Philosophical Society into the Royal Society of South Australia

1890

Career position - Handbook of the Flora of Extratropical South Australia published

1893

Award - Clarke Memorial Medal received from the Royal Society of New South Wales

1893

Career position - President of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science

1894

Career position - Key member of the W. Horn expedition to the Finke River region

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Ralph Tate - Records, 1863 - 1965, MS 49; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide

• Ferdinand Jakob Heinrich von Mueller - Records, 1880 - 1890, O9 M9; Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide. Details
• Ralph Tate - Records, 1889 - 1894, MSS 0016; Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Ralph Tate - Records, 1856 - 1941, ML MSS 161; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Herbarium, Melbourne

• Ralph Tate - Records, 1884 - 1892, MSS M20; National Herbarium, Melbourne. Details

Published resources

Books

• Musgrave, A., Bibliography of Australian Entomology, 1775-1930, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales., Sydney, 1932, 380 pp. Details
• Musgrave, A., Bibliography of Australian Entomology, 1775-1930, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales., Sydney, 1932, 380 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Alderman, A. R., 'Tate, Ralph (1840-1901), geologist and botanist', in Bede Nairn (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 6, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1976, pp. 243-244. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060259b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Alderman, A. R., 'The Development of Geology in South Australia: a personal view', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, vol. 1, no. 2, 1967, pp. 30-52. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9670120030.htm. Details
• Maiden, J.H., 'A Century of Botanical Endeavor in South Australia', Australasian Association for Advancement of Science, vol. xi, 1907, pp. 158-199. Details
• Tate, Ralph, 'History of the Early Years of the Royal Society of South Australia. Presidential Address.', Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia, vol. 111, 1879, pp. xxxix-xliv. Details
• Tate, Ralph, 'A Century of Geological Progress. Presidential Address', Australasian Association for Advancement of Science, vol. 5, 1893, pp. 1-69. Details

Online Resources

• 'Tate, Ralph - Ms 49', in Listing of Adolph Basser Library holdings, Australian Academy of Science, 1994, http://www.science.org.au/basser/manuscript-collection/ms049.html. Details
• National Library of Australia, 'Tate, Ralph', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-467475. Details

See also

• Tate, Ralph (England-Australia 1840-1901), Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists and Ecologists: Chrono-Biographical Sketches, http://www.wku.edu/%7Esmithch/chronob/TATE1840.htm. Details