Early Years in the Bureau
Introduction
My Early Years in the Bureau of Meteorology
The Formation of the Frosterley Club
Attachment A
Attachment B
Attachment C
Attachment D
Attachment E
Attachment F
Attachment G
Attachment H
Attachment I
Index
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The Central Weather Bureau was a two-storey grey residence with many small rooms housing about three people each. I learned later that the important rooms were the weather room on the left as you came in on the ground floor, and the Statistics Section which was on the right, overlooking the corner of Victoria Street and Drummond Street. Mr Timcke, aged about 47, was formerly from Adelaide where he had been taught at Norwood High School many years before by my father. He took me first to the Chief Clerk, Mr Hodge, who had a room on the first floor next door but one to the Commonwealth Meteorologist, and then to Mr Barkley, the Assistant Director who occupied the room in-between. The room housing the clerical staff, responsible to Mr Hodge for personnel, finance and administrative matters, was considerably larger than the other rooms on the first floor. The next room was next door to Mr Timcke's office to the right at the head of the stairs and this was occupied by Mr Treloar—more about him later. Next to Mr Treloar's room, on the Victoria Street side, was the drafting section, a somewhat larger room separated from the Commonwealth Meteorologist's room by a passage which led out to a balcony on the first floor. Mr. Treloar's room and the Drafting Section terminated on the east side by the eastern wall of the Bureau as it was then, so it was quite a small building. Mr Timcke and Mr Treloar were supervising meteorologists directly responsible to the Assistant Director, Mr Barkley and Mr Timcke was in charge of services matters including aviation. Mr Treloar was in charge of technical matters including a small library, the statistical section and the training school. Each had two other desks in their rooms. The two in Mr Timcke's room were occupied by a Mr G. W. Mackey, and a Mr J. V. Maher. Mackey was an assistant meteorologist and Maher a junior meteorological assistant undergoing a university course. Mr Treloar's other two desks were occupied by Mr J Hogan and Mr Alan Cornish. Mr Hogan was an assistant meteorologist and Cornish a meteorological assistant. The latter was soon to be promoted to assistant meteorologist which I learned was the base grade of professional officers (later meteorologist grade 1 and subsequently meteorologist class 1). Like Mr Timcke, Mr Treloar was a South Australian in fact both came from the Norwood area where Treloar had known my father. Both of them at different times had played football for Norwood. Treloar had his Science degree from Adelaide. He also had an LL. B degree. Among his duties was supervision of the training course at the Bureau. He took me across the road to the Horticultural Hall where training was to commence towards the end of August. I was the first of the newcomers to arrive and I found out that the man actually in charge of the school, Mr Newman, was on ten days leave in Sydney, his home city. He had been in the Adelaide Bureau at one stage and had completed his Science degree at Adelaide University.
People in Bright Sparcs - Cornish, Allan William; Hogan, John; Lillywhite, John Wilson; Mackey, George William; Maher, John Vincent (Jack); Newman, Bernard William (Bernie); Timcke, Edward Waldemar; Treloar, Harry Mayne
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© Online Edition Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre and Bureau of Meteorology 2001
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