William Stanley Jevons

William Stanley Jevons who hold a position in the Royal Mint at Sydney from 1854 to 1859, took the M.A. degree in 1862, and was afterwards Professor of Logic, and Mental and Moral Philosophy, etc., at Owen's College, Manchester. He wrote while in Sydney, a most valuable essay "On some data concerning the Climate of Australia and New Zealand," containing fifty-two pages. It was published in Waugh's Almanac for 1859, and also in a pamphlet form. The essay is divided into seven chapters devoted to the discussion of the following subjects:—

No. 1.—On the Temperature of the air in Australia.
No. 2.—Rain in Australia.
No. 3.—History of Floods and Droughts in New South Wales.
No. 4.—Periodicity of Flood and Droughts discussed.
No. 5.—Water Courses of Australia.
No. 6.—The Barometer.
No. 7.—Concluding Remarks

Mr. Jevons said "my object has been to present in an available form, such accurate numerical data as are attainable; and secondly, to group together general information as to the winds, rains, rivers, floods—the geographical features of the country and the meteorological circumstances of this part of the globe, so as to shew what remarkable problems have to be solved; and what interesting connections of cause and effect may ultimately be traced and proved."

This was the most valuable contribution to the meteorology of Australia that has been made up to the time of its publication; perhaps, the most valuable chapter is that upon the history of the floods and draughts; but every part of it bears marks of most careful work in consulting all the available data then known, and the clear and logical mind of the author. Some of his conclusions more recent observations and investigations have shewn to be wrong but they were entirely in accord with the facts then available, and he presented the most concise and accurate account of the climate which had been written.

Mr. Jevons contributed papers to the Philosophical Society of New South Wales, these were published in the Sydney Magazine of Science and Art—

1. On a New Sun Guage, July 8th, 1857.


2. On Clouds their various forms and producing causes, December 9th, 1857.

He also contributed to the same paper (Vol. II, pp. 161 and 173). Meteorological Observations in Australia, being a continua ion of those published in Waugh's Almanac for 1859; also a paper on the Geological Origin of Australia Vol II., p. 89), and Earthquakes in New South Wales (Vol II, p. 93); also Meteorological Observations three miles west of Sydney, at Petersham, eighty-five feet above the sea from July 1855 to February 1857; and then at Double Bay two miles east of Sydney, eleven feet above sea till June, 1858; readings at 9a.m. and 9p.m., published weekly from August 1856, in the Empire Newspaper and Monthly in the Sydney Magazine of Science and Art from May 1857 to June 1858; also several letters on scientific subjects to the daily press. Mr. Jevons was only nineteen years of age when he came to the colony, and twenty-four when he left. His observations fill up a gap in the official meteorological record between the closing of the South Head Observations and the commencement of observations at Sydney Observatory.

Bureau of Meteorology