Series 4 - Solar Physics Observatory, Mt. Stromlo


Date Range1880 - 1967
ProvenanceJoan Duffield
Description

Membership card, correspondence, programmes, press cuttings, notes, receipts, diagrams, draft letters, photographs, lists, publications, reports, lecture notes, postcards.


Inventory Listing

4-1 Congrès International des Etudes Solaires

Membership card for Duffield, invitation, conference programme, receipts etc. from Hôtel Palais d'Orsay, press clipping re conference, handwritten notes concerning interest in Australian observatory shown at conference, timetables, solar observations from existing observatories, May 1907.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range May 1907    Quantity 0.3 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-1 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-2 Royal Societies, Philosophical Societies, Observatories, in Australia

Details about membership and establishment date of Societies; details of founding date, responsible authority, equipment, of observatories; diagram of telescope lenses, other notes on equipment; all in Duffield's hand, 1907.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1907    Quantity 0.3 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-2 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-3 Solar Observatory - letters of support

Resolution at the Paris CongrIs proposed by Norman Lockyer (wording the same as handwritten notes in 4/1), extract from paper by C. M. Smith read to British Association supporting Australian observatory, letters from G. E. Hale, W. E. Wilson, C. Walcott, 1907.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1907    Quantity 0.6 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-3 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-4 Solar Observatory, Solar Physics

Draft of unaddressed letter re practical, possibilities of a solar observatory, extract from publication with Sir Norman Lockyer's resolution, letter from University of Adelaide re observatory, pages from notebook, 1908.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1908    Quantity 0.2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-4 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-5 Correspondence re foundation and equipment of solar observatory in Australia

Letters of support from A. Riccò, extract from 'Les Recherches Solaires' supporting the project, draft and copy of letter from Duffield to the Prime Minister of Australia in which he proposes that an observatory should be founded, 1908.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1908    Quantity 1 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-5 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-6 Correspondence re foundation of Solar Observatory

Typescripts of: Duffield's letter to the Prime Minister, letter from the Royal Society, Lockyer's resolution, extract from C. M. Smith paper, letters from G. E. Hale, W. E. Wilson, C. Walcott, A. Riccò, J. Eliot, M. Puiseux (much of this being fair copy of material contained in previous three files), 1908.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1908    Quantity 1.5 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-6 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-7 Correspondence and brief historical note, re establishment of observatory

Notes concerning early stages of Duffield's efforts on behalf of observatory (see letter to Prime Minister in previous file); correspondence with: W. H. Bragg, G. E. Hale, J. Eliot, H. F. Newall, H. H. Turner, C. Muirhead Collins, McClean's promise of £500, J. M. Baldwin, C. M. Smith, C. Kinloch-Cooke, J. Oddie, A. Riccò, H. M. Hunt, J. Larmor as Secretary of the Royal Society of London, drafts of two brief reports, 1907-1909.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1907 - 1909    Quantity 2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-7 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-8 Correspondence re Public Meeting on 26 October 1909 concerned with establishment of observatory

Drafts of letters of invitation to the meeting from Duffield, and some responses, 1909.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1909    Quantity 0.7 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-8 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-9 Lecture(s) re sun and solar observation

Handwritten drafts/notes for one or more talks on the sun and observation of the sun, one draft headed 'Australian Association Paper', n. d. [1909].

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1909    Quantity 0.5 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-9 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-10 Political, government correspondence re observatory

Including C. P. Lucas, Alfred Deakin, C. M. Collins, 1909-1910.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1909 - 1910    Quantity 0.6 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-10 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-11 Political, governmental correspondence re observatory

Including C. M. Collins, C. G. Abbot, King O'Malley, copies of letters from Duffield to Bruce Smith M.P., Littleton Groom M.P., Alfred Deakin, 1911-1914.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1911 - 1914    Quantity 2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-11 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-12 Political, governmental correspondence re observatory

Correspondence with C. M. Collins, the Prime Minister and other government officials, 1914-1915.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1914 - 1915    Quantity 0.5 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-12 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-13 Correspondence with individuals and bodies re foundation of observatory

Official correspondence; letter of support of Mt. Stromlo site from P. Baracchi; correspondence including C. M. Collins, King O'Malley, Alfred Deakin, C. P. Lucas; extract from Parliamentary debate; copy of petition in favour of observatory which was presented by Lord Avebury, Sir David Gill, Sir Frank Dyson, Professor H. F. Newall; 'Memorandum upon the Selection of the Site' by Duffield; 'Solar Physics Observatory' reply from Commonwealth Government; folder containing mainly items from previous files, e. g. J. Larmor, N. Lockyer, C. M. Smith, G. E. Hale, W. E. Wilson, C. Walcott, A. Riccò, J. Eliot, M. Puisseux, being letters or extracts, 1908-1915.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1908 - 1915    Quantity 2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-13 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-14 Appointment of director of Observatory

Letters confirming and discussing Duffield's appointment and the tasks to be undertaken immediately; also includes letters from H. H. Turner, A. Schuster, Senator G. Pearce, J. G. McLaren; documents re equipment for observatory; letters from F. W. Dyson, H. H. Turner concerning choice of director; photograph of equipment; notes on purpose of observatory and aims and duties of director; cost estimates for building and maintenance, 1922-1924.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1922 - 1924    Quantity 2.5 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-14 Box Number 5 Series 4
4-15 The Farnham Telescope, Prominence Spectroscope, Franklin-Adams Coelostat

Correspondence with Professor Sampson and Buckingham Works re Franklin-Adams Coelostat, picture of instrument (possibly coelostat); correspondence between Duffield and Baker & Co. re Prominence Spectroscope, letter from A. Fowler re same; correspondence, including receipt, re (shipping, purchase and insurance of) Farnham telescope, correspondence with Sir Howard Grubb and Sons Optical and Mechanical Works; two-page typed history of choice of site for observatory, 1908-1914.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1908 - 1914    Quantity 2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-15 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-16 Solar Physics Observatory Fund

List of assorted donations and bequests, e. g. J. Oddie,[?]. Farnham, F. McClean; correspondence re same with F. McClean, G. Syme, J. Oddie and other actual or potential donors, 1908-1913.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1908 - 1913    Quantity 2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-16 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-17 Solar Physics Observatory Fund

List of bequests and donations, correspondence re donations with donors (many apparently solicited from fellow passengers by Duffield on a voyage in 1909), correspondence with treasury re funds and accounts, 1923-1926.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1923 - 1926    Quantity 1.5 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-17 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-18 Commonwealth Solar Observatory Fund, and "Great Telescope Account"

Mainly correspondence and documentation with banks and solicitors about financial matters re what is referred to as "The Great Telescope Account"; also documents concerning Observatory Fund, including statutory declaration by George Weir Burns, 1927-1947.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1927 - 1947    Quantity 1 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-18 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-19 Commonwealth Observatory Fund Act

Copy of trustees' report on fund transactions and covering letter from W. V. Lancaster addressed to Doris Duffield, 7 July, 9 October 1947.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 7 July 1947 - 9 October 1947    Quantity 0.2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-19 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-20 Indian reports

Extracts of reports by Norman Lockyer on "Indian Observatories and Their Organization" and from the Indian Famine Commission, 1880, 1898.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1880 - 1898    Quantity 1 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-20 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-21 Publications and reports re Solar Observatory, form letter

'Memorandum upon the Proposed Solar Observatory in Australia', from Solar Physics Committee of Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science; 'Establishing a Solar Observatory in Australia', typescript of report of committee (Turner, Duffield, Cortie, Dyson, Eddington, Newall, Nicholson, Schuster); 'Establishing a Solar Observatory in Australia', published report of committee (Gill, Duffield, Lockyer, McClean, Schuster, Turner); entry re Observatory for 'Official Year Book of the Commonwealth'; 'Report of the Solar Physics Committee'; form letter presumably from Duffield appealing for support; 'Practical Possibilities of a Solar Observatory in Australia', by Professor T. W. E. David; 'Solar Physics and Meteorology', by H. A. Hunt; 'Forty-First Report of the Board of Visitors to the Observatory [Melbourne] together with the Report of the Government Astronomer', 1908, 1909, 1915, 1925.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1908 - 1925    Quantity 0.8 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-21 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-22 Solar Physics and Observatory

Lecture and other notes for several talks, one set of notes dealing with solar spectroscopy, another with choice of site for observatory, 1908.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1908    Quantity 0.8 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-22 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-23 'An Account of the Movement to Establish a Solar Observatory in Australia', by W. G. Duffield

Typescript, 1922.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1922    Quantity 0.4 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-23 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-24 Letters of congratulation on Duffield's appointment as director of the Solar Observatory

From registrar of Manchester University; T. B. Robertson; editor of Nature, 1923-1924.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1923 - 1924    Quantity 0.2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-24 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-25 'The Australasian'

Letter from the paper's editor asking Duffield to write a column; page of notes in Duffield's hand, 3 February 1925.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 3 February 1925    Quantity 0.3 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-25 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-26 Specifications and plan for director's residence, Mt. Stromlo

Typescript of specifications and suggested changes; plan for the residence, 21 February 1927, is housed with the oversize materials, 1927.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1927    Quantity 1 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-26 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-27 Formal invitation to party at the observatory, 23 November 1928
Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 23 November 1928    Quantity 0.2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-27 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-28 Inventory of contents of house, Mt. Stromlo, c. 1929
Creator Joan Duffield
Date range c. 1929    Quantity 0.1 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-28 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-29 Memoirs of the Commonwealth Observatory Nos. 1-5, Vol. I

Publications: 'The Luminosity of the Night Sky; 'The Luminosities and Parallaxes of 350 Stars of Special Type B'; 'Measurements of Atmospheric Ozone'; 'Atmospheric Potential Gradient Observations'; 'Fraunhofer Intensity Tables', May 1928, February 1930, March, May, December 1934.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range May 1928 - December 1934    Quantity 3 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-29 Box Number 6 Series 4
4-30 Reports from the Commonwealth Observatory

Two copies of 'Supplement to the Report of the Commonwealth Astronomer' for 1950, which contains a history of the Observatory from its conception (apparently by Mrs. Simenov: see letter from Bok in 4/34; annual reports from the Mt. Stromlo Observatory by Bart J. Bok, the director], 1957-1959, 1962, 1965.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1957 - 1965    Quantity 2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-30 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-31 'The Australian Commonwealth Observatory', by O. J. Eggen

Reprint of article, 8 June 1956.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 8 June 1956    Quantity 0.3 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-31 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-32 Pamphlets and articles about Mt. Stromlo

Articles by Bart Bok, entitled 'Mt. Stromlo Observatory of the Australian National University', 'A Search for New Observatory Sites in Australia', 'Siding Spring Observatory' and 'Mount Stromlo Observatory', 'Mt. Stromlo Observatory', by M. J. Miller; printed plan of the layout of the 'Commonwealth Observatory, Mount Stromlo' n. d. housed with the oversize material, 1948, 1960, 1965-1966.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1948 - 1966    Quantity 1.2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-32 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-33 Publications by Bart Bok and others

Articles and talks by Bart J. Bok entitled 'Paris Symposium on Radio Astronomy and World's Astronomers Meet in Moscow', 'The Interstellar Medium', 'Star Birth and Evolution', 'Report on Study Leave', 'The Southern Milky Way'; 'The Southern Milky Way', by J. B. Whiteoak; 'Measurement of Stellar Radiation', by L. H. Aller; 'Galactic Clusters', by A. R. Hogg; photograph of the Milky Way, 1958, 1961.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1958 - 1961    Quantity 1.2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-33 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-34 Correspondence between Joan Duffield and Bart Bok

Two letters, which discuss Duffield's grave and what to do with his papers, 25 March, 4 May 1959.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 25 March 1959 - 4 May 1959    Quantity 0.2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-34 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-35 Correspondence to Joan Duffield

From A. R. Hogg with questions re history of Perth Observatory; from Rob (?) re Canberra Rotary Club c. 1928 to which W. G. Duffield belonged; from Bart Bok with drawings of the proposed Duffield building at Mt. Stromlo, 1961, 1966, 1967.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1961 - 1967    Quantity 0.5 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-35 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-36 Observatory postcards

Black and white photographic postcards from Mt. Stromlo of the observatory, telescopes, and various nebulae and stars; and covering letter, 18 November 1959.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 18 November 1959    Quantity 2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-36 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-37 Postcards and photographs

Two old postcards, and a group of black and white photographs, of Mt. Stromlo and surrounding landscape, c. 1928, and 1959.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range c. 1928 - 1959    Quantity 1.5 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-37 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-38 Photographs

Three black and white photographs of telescope and a visitor's pamphlet, 1960.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1960    Quantity 0.1 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-38 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-39 Press cuttings

Weather forecasting, A. R. Hogg, Canberra, Mt. Stromlo, sunspots, 1938.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1938    Quantity 0.5 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-39 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-40 Press cuttings

Observatory, Canberra, weather prediction, 1939.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1939    Quantity 0.5 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-40 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-41 Press cuttings

Advertisements for and appointment of observatory director, 1939.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1939    Quantity 0.2 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-41 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-42 Press cuttings

Science congress Canberra; R. G. Giovanelli, 1939.

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1939    Quantity 0.5 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-42 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-43 Press cuttings

Observatory, telescope, solar eclipse, Canberra, 1940

Creator Joan Duffield
Date range 1940    Quantity 0.5 cm, 1 file
Inventory Identifier 4-43 Box Number 7 Series 4
4-44 Press cuttings

Scientific exchange with India, n. d.

Creator Joan Duffield
Quantity 0.1 cm, 1 file Inventory Identifier 4-44 Box Number 7 Series 4

Published by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre on AustehcWeb, April 2004
With support from Ian Potter Foundation, Bank of Tokyo (Australia) Ltd and The University of Melbourne
Listed by Gavan McCarthy and Howard Sankey
HTML edition Ailie Smith
Updated 8 November 2007
http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/guides/duff/DUFFS004.htm

The template for this finding aid is part of the Heritage Documentation Management System

[ Top of Page | Home | Series | Provenance | Search | Index ]