Biographical entry Thureau, Gustav Adolph Hugo (1831 - 1901)

Summary

Gustav Thureau was the first mines inspector and geologist appointed to Government service in Tasmania. Arriving in South Australia in 1849 he worked for a short time as an ore dresser in Burra Burra before moving to Victoria. Between 1852 and 1878 Thureau worked on various Victorian goldfields including Forest Creek, Maryborough, Ararat, Malmsbury Ballarat, Daylesford and Warrandyte, ultimately becoming manager and inspector of mining companies. He came to be regarded as an authority of the mining and geology of central Victoria and published on a number of articles on mineral deposits. For some time he was mining reporter for the Bendigo Advertiser and from 1875 to 1877 lectured on geology as it applied to mining and mineralogy at the Bendigo School of Mines. In 1877 he was delegated to visit California to study mining methods and innovations. After undertaking contract work evaluating mineral resources for the Tasmanian Government, in 1882 Thureau was appointed Inspector of Mines (styled Inspector and Mining Geologist from 1885). For ten years after retiring in 1889 worked as a mining consultant in Launceston, Tasmania, and Melbourne. The Thureau Hills, near Queenstown, Tasmania, and a number of fossils have been named after him.

Details

Events

1848

Education - Graduated from Royal Academy of Mines, Clausthal, Germany

1849

Life event - Migrated to Australia

1859

Life event - Naturalised as a citizen of Victoria

1875

Award - Elected Fellow, Geological Society of London

1875 - 1877

Career position - Lecturer in geology, Bendigo School of Mines

1877 -

Career position - delegate of Bendigo School of Mines to investigate mining in California

1882 - 1889

Career position - Inspector of Mines (and Mining Geologist), Tasmanian Government

1884

Career position - Elected Fellow, Royal Society of Tasmania

1885

Life event - Naturalised as a citizen of Tasmania

1889

Life event - Retired

1896 - 1901

Career position - Member, Geological society of Australasia

Published resources

Journal Articles

• McMullen, G.L., 'Gustav Thureau, the first Tasmanian Inspector of Mines and Government Mining geologist', Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, vol. 150, no. 1, 2016, pp. 39-49. Details
• McMullen, Gabrielle L., 'An Able Practical and Scientific Man: Gustav Adolph Hugo Thureau, German Trained Mining Gelogist', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 11, no. 2, 1996, pp. 149-177. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9961120149.htm. Details
• Preston, Keith, 'Mount Victoria goldfield, Tasmania: a case of unfulfilled potential?', Journal of Australasian Mining History, vol. 11, 2011, pp. 183-98. Details

Online Resources

• 'Thureau, Gustav Adolph Hugo (1831-1901)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1476050. Details