Person
Ainsworth, George Frederick (1878 - 1950)
- Born
- 20 June 1878
Charleston, New South Wales, Australia - Died
- 11 October 1950
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Antarctic explorer, Businessman and Meteorologist
Summary
George Ainsworth was a teacher in the New South Wales Department of Public Instruction before an interest in meteorology prompted him to join the Central Weather Bureau in Melbourne. In 1911 he was appointed Leader and Meteorologist of the Macquarie Island party of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. He established the radio station on Wireless Hill, providing the vital relay link for the first radio communications between Antarctica and Australia. As meteorologist Ainsworth made daily meteorological readings. The party achieved significant results despite Ainsworth's leadership style not sitting well with his companions. His account of the party's activities was included in Mawson's Home of the blizzard (1915) while his meteorological data were published in 1929. During WWI Ainsworth served in military intelligence. His later career included several years as Head of the Foreign Section of the Prime Minister's Department before leaving the public service to join the private sector. Mount Ainsworth, Macquarie Island, was named in his honour.
Details
Chronology
- 1893 - 1910
- Career position - Assistant Teacher, Department of Public Instruction, New South Wales
- 1910 - 1911
- Career position - Assistant, Central Weather Bureau, Department of Home Affairs, Melbourne
- December 1911 - November 1913
- Career position - Leader and Meteorologist, Macquarie Island party, Australasian Antarctic Expedition
- 1915
- Award - Polar Medal (Silver)
- 1915 - 1917
- Career position - Served with the Australian 62nd Infantry Battalion
- 1917 - 1919
- Career position - Chief, Special Intelligence Bureau, Counter Espionage Bureau Queensland
- 1919 - 1921
- Career position - Inspector-in-Charge, Investigation Branch, Commonwealth Attorney General's Department, Queensland
- 1921 - 1924
- Career position - Head, Foreign Section, Prime Minister's Department
- 1923
- Career position - Foreign affairs officer, Australian delegation Imperial Economic Conference, London
- 1925 - 1929
- Career position - Business Manager, Kellow-Falkiner (car dealership)
- 1929 - 1930
- Career position - General Manager, Chrysler Corporation, New Zealand
- 1930 - 1935
- Career position - General Manager, Barnet Glass Rubber, Queensland
- 1935 - 1937
- Career position - State organiser, Queensland, United Australian Party
- 1938 - 1947
- Career position - Meteorologist, Rose Bay Station, Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales
Related entries
Published resources
Books
- Ainsworth, G. F.; Power, H.; and Tulloch, A. C., Tabulated and reduced records of the Macquarie Island station: recorders G. Ainsworth, H. Power and A. C. Tulloch; reduction and tabulation of data by direction of H. A. Hunt and under superintendence of B. W. Newman (Sydney: Government Printer, 1929), 544 pp. Details
Book Sections
- Gibbney, H. J., 'Ainsworth, George Frederick (1878 - 1950)' in Australian dictionary of biography volume 7:A-Ch, Nairn, Bede and Serle, Geoffrey, eds (Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1979), pp. 21-2. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ainsworth-george-frederick-4982/text8273. Details
Journal Articles
- Ainsworth, J., 'Captain George Frederick Ainsworth, Queensland's Special Intelligence Bureau Chief, 1917 - 1919', Royal Historical Society of Queensland journal, 17 (5) (2000), 193-212. Details
See also
- Jensen, David, Mawson's remarkable men: the personal stories of the epic 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expediton (Sydeny: Allen and Unwin, 2015), 183 pp. Details
- Mawson, Douglas, The home of the blizzard: being the story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911 - 1914, 2 vols (London: J.B. Lippincott: Heinemann, 1915). Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 22 March 2022