Georg von Neumayer 1826-1909
๐๐๐๐๐๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฌ
21 June
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ.
On 27 October, 1862, scientist, magnetician, oceanographer and meteorologist Georg von Neumayer noted in his journal: 'Arrived at Beechworth at 9h 15m a.m. and went at once to the Survey Office for the purpose of inspecting the meteorological observatory. Fixed the standard barometer as well as the wooden building, in which it was erected... The scenery round Beechworth is very beautiful, the rushing of the cataract over the granite boulders having a wonderfully enlivening effect upon the general aspect of the, at present, rather dull place. The site of the township is one of the finest and healthiest I can imagine.'
Von Neumayer (1826-1909) was born 200 years ago today in Kircheimbolanden, Bavaria. As a young man he studied geophysics and hydrography and became interested in polar navigation and exploration. He came to Australia in 1852 as a sailor and tried his hand on the Bendigo goldfields. He returned to Bavaria in 1854, convincing his king, Maximilian II, and British scientists to support further scientific exploration in Australia. He returned in 1857 and established an observatory on Flagstaff Hill in Melbourne and later worked with William Wills, who became his assistant.
As a vice-president of the Royal Society of Victoria, with fellow RSV councillor and government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller, he was a member of the Victorian Exploration Committee that planned and funded the 1860-1861 transcontinental expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria led by former Beechworth police inspector Robert O'Hara Burke.
Von Neumayer's crowning achievement was a 17,700-kilometre Magnetic Survey of the Colony of Victoria between 1858 and 1864, in which he was variously accompanied by artists Eugen(e) von Guรฉrard and Nicholas Chevalier. Von Guรฉrard was with him on the route to Mount Kosciuszko in 1862, stopping in Beechworth. Here, standing in Spring Creek Gorge, von Guรฉrard sketched 'Mr Louis Chevalier's mill 27 Oct 62', operated by Nicholas Chevalier's brother.
Von Neumayer returned to Germany in 1872 and was appointed hydrographer to the German Admiralty. Knighted by the Bavarian regent, years later he taught Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who became the first person known to have made it to the South Pole. Von Neumayer died on 24 May, 1909, in Neustadt an der Weinstraรe in Germany's Rhineland.
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Sources: Australian Dictionary of Biography (R.A.Swan, vol. 5, 1974). Deutsche Gesellschaft fรผr Polarforschung, Bremerhaven. Eugen(e) von Guรฉrard, Mr Louis Chevalier's Mill 27 Oct 62. State Library of New South Wales (Dixson Galleries, Mitchell Library). Results of the Magnetic Survey of the Colony of Victoria Executed During the Years 1858-1864 (J. Schneider, 1869). Eugen(e) von Guรฉrard, Mount Kosciusko, seen from the Victorian border (Mount Hope Ranges), National Gallery of Victoria Australian collection (Federation Square). State Library of Victoria (Burke and Wills Correspondence).
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