Alexander Montgomery MA (January 1862 – 10 February 1933) was a geologist who held important Government positions in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

History

Montgomery was born at

Morningside, Edinburgh Morningside is a district and former village in the south of Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies alongside the main arterial Morningside Road, part of an ancient route from Edinburgh to the south west of Scotland. The original village served severa ...

, the second son of Alexander Montgomery, previously headmaster of the George Street Normal School,

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand. The family travelled to New Zealand in 1865, and Montgomery was educated at the

Otago Boys' High School , motto_translation = "The ‘right’ learning builds a heart of oak" , type = State secondary, day and boarding , established = ; years ago , streetaddress= 2 Arthur Street , region = Dunedin , state = Otago , zipcod ...

and Otago University School of Mines. He qualified BA at

New Zealand University The University of New Zealand was New Zealand's sole degree-granting university from 1874 to 1961. It was a collegiate university embracing several constituent institutions at various locations around New Zealand. After it was dissolved in 196 ...

in 1881, and MA with first class honors in chemistry and electricity in 1882, and acted as assistant to James Gow Black, professor of chemistry and metallurgy, in 1881 and 1882. He studied geology at the Otago School of Mines under Professor G. H. F. Ulrich in 1882 and 1883. In late 1883 he joined the New Zealand Public Works Department, under W. N. Blair, CE. From 1883 to 1885 Montgomery was occupied in construction of the East and West Coast Railways and the

Otago Central Railway The Otago Central Railway (OCR) or in later years Otago Central Branch Railway, now often referred to as the Taieri Gorge Railway, was a secondary railway line in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. Construction Construction o ...

. At the end of 1885 he was transferred to the New Zealand Mines Department, and assisted Professor Black in the establishment of schools of mines in various New Zealand mining towns, and from 1886 to 1889 was in charge of the

Thames School of Mines The Thames School of Mines is a nationally significant former school of mining in Thames, New Zealand. It is listed as a Category 1 historic building by Heritage New Zealand. Purpose As stated in the 1901 Syllabus, the Thames School of M ...

in the

Hauraki Hauraki is a suburb located on the southern North Shore of Auckland, the largest metropolitan city in New Zealand. It is under the local governance of the Auckland Council. History The traditional name for the western coastline in Hauraki wa ...

gold field. In 1889 he was appointed by the

Tasmanian Government The Tasmanian Government is the democratic administrative authority of the state of Tasmania, Australia. The leader of the party or coalition with the confidence of the House of Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Tasmania, is invit ...

as Inspector of Mines and Geological Surveyor, at a time of intense mine development. During this time he exposed the " Mount Hoaxley" swindle, but its perpetrators, though known, were through lack of evidence never convicted. At the end of 1896 he was appointed superintending engineer to Kauri Gold Estates, Limited, who were developing their large freehold property on the Hauraki Peninsula. In August 1902 he was appointed

Western Australian Government The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...

State mining engineer. Montgomery retired in 1930. He died suddenly at

Mount Lawley, Western Australia Mount Lawley is an inner northern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The suburb is bounded by the Swan River to the east, Vincent, Harold and Pakenham Streets to the south, Central Avenue and Alexander Drive to the north, and Norfolk Stree ...

three years later.

Memberships

*Life member of the

American Institute of Mining Engineers The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) is a professional association for mining and metallurgy, with over 145,000 members. It was founded in 1871 by 22 mining engineers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Uni ...

*Active member of the

Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) provides services to professionals engaged in all facets of the global minerals sector and is based in Carlton, Victoria, Australia. History The Institute had its genesis in 1893 with ...

from its foundation, and its president in 1895 *Member,

North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers The North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers (NEIMME), commonly known as The Mining Institute, is a British Royal Chartered learned society and membership organisation dedicated to advancing science and technology in the N ...

*Member, Federated Institute of Mining Engineers *Fellow of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

*Member,

Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British As ...

and twice acted as vice-president of Section C (Geology) *Member, Geological Society of Australasia *Member, New Zealand Institute *Member, Chamber of Mines of Victoria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Alexander 1862 births 1932 deaths 20th-century Australian geologists 19th-century New Zealand geologists