Charles Todd (continued)

Todd was responsible for the official rainfall records begun in Perth in 1876. By the end of 1877 there were 11 stations and by 1888 there were 103. He also established an observatory in Perth.

A meteorological branch was added to the Surveyor-General's Department in Perth, a set of meteorological instruments was mounted in the grounds attached to the department under the direction of Sir Malcolm Fraser, the Surveyor-General. Responsibility for meteorological observations later passed to M. A. C. Fraser, the Government Statistician, who maintained the records until 1895. In 1896 an astronomical observatory was established in Perth and the meteorological branch was transferred to the charge of W. E. Cook, who was the first Government Astronomer in Western Australia. Cook had previously had considerable experience under Todd at the Adelaide observatory.

In 1849, at the age of 23, Neumayer had obtained his PhD at Munich and seemed set to take up a career of teaching. Instead he developed an intense attachment to the sea, working as a wharf labourer and seaman. In 1851, after attending the Hamburg School of Navigation for only six weeks, he obtained his Mate's ticket. In 1852 he made a voyage to Australia. Like Ellery, one of Australia's attractions to Neumayer appears to have been the urge to try his luck on the goldfields. At the age of 27 he was at the Bendigo diggings where it was reported he formed a 'German school' in which he assembled seamen from the ships which had been laid up in Australia (as the result of desertion by crews attracted to the gold diggings) and taught them navigation, rewarding successful students with pancakes which he himself cooked. There is also a report that he worked in the observatory at Hobarton, which as we have seen was closed down after nine years activity. In 1854 at the age of 28, Neumayer returned to Europe in order to obtain the necessary funds for the establishment of an observatory in Melbourne with the object of continuing the magnetic observations-of the Hobarton Observatory and practising nautical meteorology, following the example set by Maury. The famous scientists Humbolt, Liebig and Faraday supported his proposal and King Maximilian 11 of Bavaria gave him instruments valued at $2000 for this purpose. In 1856 he returned to Melbourne and established an observatory in the naval signal station at Flagstaff Hill. This was a fitting locale in view of his interest in nautical meteorology.

Bureau of Meteorology