Sir Algernon Phillips Withiel Thomas (3 June 1857 – 28 December 1937) was a New Zealand university professor, geologist, biologist and educationalist. He was born in
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
, Cheshire, England in 1857 and died in Auckland, New Zealand in 1937. He is best known for his early research (1880–83) into the life cycle of the
sheep liver fluke (''Fasciola hepatica''), a discovery he shared with the German zoologist
Rudolf Leuckart
Karl Georg Friedrich Rudolf Leuckart (7 October 1822 – 22 February 1898) was a German zoologist born in Helmstedt. He was a nephew to naturalist Friedrich Sigismund Leuckart (1794–1843).
Academic career
He earned his degree from the Uni ...
, his report on the eruption of
Tarawera (1888) and his contribution to the development of New Zealand pedagogy.
Background and education
Thomas was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, on 3 June 1857, the sixth child and second son of Edith Withiell Phillips (1826–1909) and her husband John Withiell Thomas (1823–1909), an accountant and, later, senior partner in the Manchester practice Thomas, Wade, Guthrie & Co. Both his parents came from Redruth in Cornwall. His elder brother
Ernest Chester Thomas, (1850–1892), a Gray's Inn barrister by profession, obtained early recognition as Librarian of the Oxford Union (1874) and, subsequently, for his work as secretary of the Library Association of the United Kingdom (1878–1890) and for his 1888 edition of ''The philobiblon of
Richard de Bury
Richard de Bury (24 January 1287 – 14 April 1345), also known as Richard Aungerville or Aungervyle, was an English priest, teacher, bishop, writer, and bibliophile. He was a patron of learning and one of the first English collectors of books. ...
''. Two of his elder sisters, Clara Irene Thomas (1852–1919) and Lilias Landon Thomas (1854–1929), actively promoted secondary education for women, notably as foundation headmistresses respectively of
Sydenham High School (1887) and
Edgbaston Church of England College for Girls (1886).
In 1861, Thomas' family moved to Manchester where he was educated privately before being sent as a boarder to
Ockbrook School
Ockbrook School was an independent coeducational day and boarding school for children aged 3–18 years situated in rural Derbyshire between the cities of Nottingham and Derby. Boarding was for boys and girls from age 11–18 years. On Monday 7 J ...
in Derby. He subsequently followed his brother to
Manchester Grammar School
The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...
. Inclined to scientific studies from an early age, Thomas profited from his attendance at Manchester Grammar during the regime of its reforming high master, Frederick Walker who had a reputation for ensuring that his pupils achieved the highest academic distinctions. Awarded a Brackenbury Natural Science Scholarship by
Balliol College
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...
, he matriculated at Oxford on 20 October 1874, aged 17. Studying unde
Robert Clifton(physics),
Henry Smith (mathematics),
Joseph Prestwich
Sir Joseph Prestwich, FRS (12 March 1812 – 23 June 1896) was a British geologist and businessman, known as an expert on the Tertiary Period and for having confirmed the findings of Boucher de Perthes of ancient flint tools in the Somme vall ...
(geology), Walter Fisher (chemistry),
Henry Acland
Sir Henry Wentworth Dyke Acland, 1st Baronet, (23 August 181516 October 1900) was an English physician and educator.
Life
Henry Acland was born in Killerton, Exeter, the fourth son of Sir Thomas Acland and Lydia Elizabeth Hoare, and educate ...
(human anatomy) and
George Rolleston
George Rolleston MA MD FRCP FRS (30 July 1829 – 16 June 1881) was an English physician and zoologist. He was the first Linacre Professor of Anatomy and Physiology to be appointed at the University of Oxford, a post he held from 1860 until ...
(biology), he obtained a second in mathematical honour moderations in 1876 and a first in natural sciences in the honour finals in 1877, taking his BA in 1878. In 1879 he was awarded a Burdett-Coutts scholarship in geology, undertaking post-graduate study in Italy (
Stazione Zoologica
The Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn is a research institute in Naples, Italy, devoted to basic research in biology. Research is largely interdisciplinary involving the fields of evolution, biochemistry, molecular biology, neurobiology, cell bio ...
, Naples), France, Switzerland and Germany (
Philipps-Universität Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
). He took his MA in 1881.
In late 1879, Rolleston, the Linacre professor of anatomy and physiology, appointed Thomas junior demonstrator in human and comparative anatomy at the
University Museum, Oxford, in succession to
Edward Bagnall Poulton
Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton, FRS HFRSE FLS (27 January 1856 – 20 November 1943) was a British evolutionary biologist, a lifelong advocate of natural selection through a period in which many scientists such as Reginald Punnett doubted its ...
. His responsibilities included practical teaching of microscopic preparations, dissecting and practical classes in embryology as well as lecturing; his pupils included
Frank Beddard (1858–1925) and
Halford Mackinder
Sir Halford John Mackinder (15 February 1861 – 6 March 1947) was an English geographer, academic and politician, who is regarded as one of the founding fathers of both geopolitics and geostrategy. He was the first Principal of University Ex ...
(1861–1947). Under Rolleston's somewhat erratic supervision – his health was failing – Thomas was commissioned by the
Royal Agricultural Society to investigate the
sheep liver fluke (''Fasciola hepatica''), a parasite flatworm that in the winter of 1879–80 had caused the loss of some three million sheep in England. Thomas' preliminary results, which, critically, established the basic life cycle of the parasite, were published in 1881 and 1882, with his analysis and conclusions appearing in 1883. He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1882.
Emigration to New Zealand
Notwithstanding his father's relative wealth, his academic success and the overt support of Acland and the master of Balliol, Benjamin Jowett, Thomas was unclear as to where he might gain more remunerative employment subsequent to his appointment to the museum. In October 1882, following a number of disappointments, he applied successfully for the professorship of natural science at the soon-to-be-formed
Auckland University College
, mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work
, established = 1883; years ago
, endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021)
, budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021)
, chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant
, vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...
(AUC), a constituent college of the
University of New Zealand
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 ...
. Selected on the recommendations of
Thomas Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The stor ...
and
Archibald Geikie
Sir Archibald Geikie (28 December 183510 November 1924) was a Scottish geologist and writer.
Early life
Geikie was born in Edinburgh in 1835, the eldest son of Isabella Thom and her husband James Stuart Geikie, a musician and music critic. T ...
, he delivered his first professorial lecture, 'a special discourse "On the Liver-parasite in Sheep"' alongside Acland at the University of Oxford in February 1883. Thomas, accompanied by his younger sister Lucie Vernon Thomas (1862-1932), departed from London on 8 March 1883 on the ''SS Orient''. Transferring to the ''SS Rotomahana'' in Melbourne, they arrived in Auckland on 1 May 1883 to find that, contrary to what Thomas had been led to believe at his interview, facilities were somewhat less than rudimentary. Until 1885 when Parliament passed the Auckland University College Reserves Act, AUC was the only university college in New Zealand without either an endowment or a dedicated campus. As well as having to establish a new department encompassing geology, botany and zoology in - to quote Beatrice Webb - 'quaint ramshackle wooden buildings', Thomas was also required to teach mathematics following the drowning of George Walker, the professor of mathematics. Not only was Auckland the physical and intellectual antithesis of Oxford but there was also considerable antagonism to the very existence of the college among Auckland's dominant commercial class with the
Auckland Chamber of Commerce calling for its funding to be diverted to more profitable purposes on the grounds that 'a University is for the few and that consequently its usefulness is circumscribed.'
Aside from having to lecture and research, the scientific professorial staff were also required to locate suitable premises, assemble books, specimen, apparatus and teaching materials, establish laboratories, undertake fieldwork and, notwithstanding the absence of any support staff, administer their departments. Thomas was also elected chair of the Professorial Board and in that capacity delivered the inaugural address at the opening of AUC on 21 May 1883. In addition, there was an expectation that they would also examine secondary students, give public lectures, provide reports on scientific matters to various branches of government and be active participants in the city's intellectual life. Thomas joined the
Auckland Institute and Museum in June 1883, and was elected to its council in 1884 and its presidency in 1886, a position he held again in 1895 and between 1903 and 1905. In his first year of membership he delivered two lectures at the Institute: 'Remarks on specimens from the Naples Zoological Station' and 'Remarks on Mr Caldwell's researches on the development of the lower mammals of Australia' and for the next decade he continued to deliver up to three lectures a year. Subsequently, he was appointed chairman of the Trustees of the Museum and, in that position, played a significant role both in establishing the museum's scientific reputation and in ensuring it was suitably housed and maintained.
In the summer vacation following his arrival, between January and March 1884, Thomas travelled throughout New Zealand meeting colleagues at the other two university establishments, notably
Thomas Jeffery Parker
Thomas Jeffery Parker F.R.S. (17 October 1850 – 7 November 1897) was a zoologist who worked in New Zealand.
Biography
Parker was born at 124 Tachbrook Street in London on 17 October 1850 the son of the anatomist William Kitchen Parker. He st ...
(1850–1897), professor of biology and curator of the University Museum at the
University of Otago
, image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg
, image_size =
, caption = University clock tower
, motto = la, Sapere aude
, mottoeng = Dare to be wise
, established = 1869; 152 years ago
, type = Public research collegiate u ...
and
Frederick Hutton (1836–1905), professor of biology at
Canterbury University College
The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was f ...
. The visit both enabled him to assess the status of science in the country and provided him with the empirical basis on which he developed a teaching programme best suited to the needs of his students. It also opened up an informal network of local scientific researchers; he became particularly close to Parker with whom he initiated a research project focussing on the embryology of the
Tuatara
Tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') are reptiles endemic to New Zealand. Despite their close resemblance to lizards, they are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. The name ''tuatara'' is derived from the Māori language and m ...
(''Sphenodon punctatus'').
While Thomas had good relations with his peers, his connection with the New Zealand scientific establishment, as embodied by
James Hector
Sir James Hector (16 March 1834 – 6 November 1907) was a Scottish-New Zealand geologist, naturalist, and surgeon who accompanied the Palliser Expedition as a surgeon and geologist. He went on to have a lengthy career as a government employe ...
, director of both th
Colonial Museumand the New Zealand Geological Survey, manager of the New Zealand Institute and editor of its ''Transactions'', was less congenial. Hector seems to have avoided meeting Thomas during his first visit to Wellington, leaving Thomas to observe merely that the Colonial Museum was 'old-fashioned' in appearance. The influential Hector, a medical doctor by training, distrusted university-trained natural scientists recently arrived from the metropolis, such as Thomas and Parker. It was a view shared b
James McKerrow the surveyor general and a protégé of Hector's, who observed of Thomas and his colleagu
the professor of chemistry at AUC, that 'They are I fancy like some other learned men I have seen from Home, who have to unlearn a good deal after they come to the colony, and get quit of a deal of self-complacency. A very common notion of new arrivals, is, that Colonials are a sort of unkempt inferior race which it is the privilege and duty of them – the learned men – to make stepping stones of.' For their part, Parker, Thomas and Brown were not so much keen to step on 'colonials', but rather unimpressed by the descriptive, unanalytical, nature of the prevailing scientific methodology and sceptical of the rigour of its practitioners, many of them self-trained. Hector's animus against the academic scientists is suggested by his failure to publish many of the papers submitted to him in his capacity as editor of the ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute''.
These tensions coalesced in June 1886 when the largest volcanic event in modern New Zealand history occurred at
Mount Tarawera
Mount Tarawera is a volcano on the North Island of New Zealand within the older but volcanically productive Ōkataina Caldera. Located 24 kilometres southeast of Rotorua, it consists of a series of rhyolitic lava domes that were fissu ...
, 24 kilometres south east of Rotorua in the North Island. Following the eruption, the government commissioned Hector to provide a scientific report on the occurrence and its consequences. Undertaking a fleeting visit around the site he produced a report arguing that the eruption was, essentially, non-volcanic and of little scientific interest. As R F Keam remarks, 'No geologist today would accept Hector's model of the occurrence' and, even then, the deficiencies of the Hector report aroused criticism. In an effort to defuse the matter William Lanarch, the minister of mines, commissioned Hutton, Thomas and Brown to further report on the eruption. While Hutton evinced a degree of impatience in promulgating his opinion, Thomas was more circumspect and thorough in his fieldwork and his report, published two years later and separately from that of Hutton, was, in Keam's opinion, 'the polished product of meticulous research'; he further notes that 'Thomas would have been glad that he had distanced himself from Hutton's ideas on the matter'.
Research and teaching
Notwithstanding the topicality of and his interest in geological matters, the wide scope of Thomas's academic responsibilities made it impossible for him to specialise. Almost immediately after his arrival he was requested by both colonial and municipal authorities to undertake investigations into a diverse range of biological and geological subjects ranging from parasitic diseases affecting rabbits in the Wairarapa district and the life history of flounder to analyses of water quality in Auckland. In a discussion of Thomas' report on the rabbit control problem, Paul Star notes that while he 'did not find a satisfactory disease, ... the publication of his reports introduced many colonists to a scientific approach'. Thomas' lack of specialisation has led some New Zealand historians, such as Keith Sinclair, to assert that he was not a researcher of any significance. Much of this argument is anachronistic and demonstrates a failure either to comprehend the aims, purpose and function of applied scientific research at the end of the nineteenth century or to understand the circumstances under which Thomas would have been able to research at the level he had become accustomed to in Europe. Nonetheless, Thomas did produce significant research outputs, particularly during his first two decades at the university; between 1883 and 1903 he published thirteen scientific papers ranging in scope from observations on volcanic rocks of the Taupo district, notes on Tuatara embryology and an account of the prothallium of ''
Phylloglossum
''Phylloglossum'', a genus in the clubmoss family Lycopodiaceae, is a small plant superficially resembling a tiny grass plant, growing with a rosette of slender leaves 2–5 cm long from an underground bulb-like root. It has a single centr ...
''. Although not present for the preliminary meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) held in Sydney in November 1886 he was a foundation member and in 1888 was elected an ordinary member of the Association's ruling body and, with Parker, Honorary Local Secretary for New Zealand. At the AAAS conference held in Melbourne in 1890 he presided over the biological section, delivering an address lamenting the deficient state of scientific pedagogy, particularly at secondary level, the need for public scientific research and the failure of museums in some of the Australasian colonies to recognise their public role noting that 'It is over 30 years since Darwin pointed out how important and intimate were the relations of living beings to their environment. His teaching infused new life into the study of Biology but the enthusiasm does not seem to have extended to museums. One would think that the ''Origin of Species'' had never entered the doors of a museum. Most museums seem to be arranged chiefly, though most inadequately, with regard to the wants of the specialist, and the general public are scarcely thought of. It was, effectively, a statement of what Thomas hoped to achieve in his work in New Zealand.
Thomas' primary focus at AUC was on teaching and his research clearly informed his pedagogy. While University of New Zealand degrees were initially set and examined in the United Kingdom, he developed courses in both biology and geology that focussed on the local condition and emphasised fieldwork. His early students effectively developed those areas in which he had undertaken preliminary research. Thomas appears to have been an inspiring teacher. Alan Mason notes with respect to his teaching of geology that he was responsible 'for an explosion of talent, noting that, nationally, of the six senior scholars in geology between 1894 and 1903, five of them were from Auckland. Moreover, 'the Auckland achievement becomes even greater when we realise that of the three colleges in existence ... the Auckland college was the smallest and the poorest. The success came from a student base of less than forty i.e. an average of four first year students entering the department each year. Furthermore, in contrast to his southern counterparts, Thomas was the sole teacher of botany, zoology and geology.'
Thomas's success as a teacher was not restricted to geology. His zoology students included Richard William Allen, MA (1899), Wooldridge Memorial Scholar in Physiology (1902) at Guys Hospital, gold medalist material medica, University of London (1902), Gull student in pathology (1904), MB BS University of London (1905), who became 'a brilliant Harley Street specialist' and author of
Vaccine therapy; its theory and practice' (1910). In botany,
John Ernest Holloway FRS, MSc (1905), DSc (1917) developed and extended Thomas's initial investigation into primitive ferns; an
Kathleen Maisey Curtis BA (1913) was the first New Zealand woman to win an 1851 Scholarship for study at the University of London where she was awarded a DSc in 1919. A mycologist at the Cawthorn Institute in Nelson, she was the first female fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Other students who distinguishing themselves included
Elsie Mary Griffin, MA (1906), subsequently a key figure in the YWCA in both New Zealand and Australia. Writing to Thomas in 1912, Griffin observed that while he might think her 'a horrid "suffragette"' indulging in 'all kinds of bold & "unwomanly" things', she found her 'scientific training of immense value' in her work.
Conservation and horticulture
Thomas' pragmatic approach to his teaching anticipated the development of an understanding of New Zealand's natural environment based on scientific method rather than on the fragmented observation of phenomena. Moreover, Thomas was not averse to criticising the focus of the British-set examinations conducted under the aegis of the University of New Zealand, arguing for example with A H Green, Prestwich's successor as professor of geology at Oxford, that while a general knowledge of British geology was useful for New Zealand students of the subject, the focus should be on the geology of their own country. Thomas' recognition of the unique qualities of New Zealand biota paved the way for his advocacy of environmental conservation measures; while far from being the first to propose the preservation of the country's indigenous fauna and flora, his methodological approach laid the foundation for more scientific assessments of what had hitherto been proposed for preservation on the basis of 'natural curiosities'. As early as 1886 he was among those arguing at the Auckland Institute the necessity of introducing measures to conserve the rapidly diminishing indigenous bird population.
In 1891, Thomas moved a resolution at the Christchurch meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, seconded by G M Thomson, encouraging the preservation of the native fauna and flora of New Zealand. His motion declared the need for 'the formation of one or more Reserves where the fauna (and also the flora) could be protected from the destruction which, it is well known, is overtaking so many of the rare and more interesting species'. After considerable legislative inertia, his lobbying led to the formation of a conservation reserve on
Hauturu-o-Toi (Little Barrier Island) in October 1894 'as a reserve for birds in time of peace, and for defence purposes in time of fighting'. In April 1894, emboldened by the success of this move, he advocated the preservation of the native flora and fauna of the nearby
Waitākere Ranges
The Waitākere Ranges is a mountain range in New Zealand. Located in West Auckland between metropolitan Auckland and the Tasman Sea, the ranges and its foothills and coasts comprise some of public and private land. The area, traditionally kno ...
and subsequently was the chief speaker in a delegation that sought to persuade the Auckland City Council to acquire the region as a scenic reserve. He was supporter and later chairman of the Auckland Scenery Preservation Society (1899), one of the earliest conservation pressure groups in the country.
On taking up his appointment at AUC, Thomas initiated a scheme where, in the absence of any such facility in Auckland, the college grounds – such as they were – would be developed as a precursor botanical garden of indigenous flora. This engagement with applied science prompted an interest in horticulture and in 1890 he acquired a denuded ten acre (4 hectares) section in the Auckland suburb of Epsom which he and his wife Emily developed into an extensive garden while retaining its key geological feature, a remnant lava field of the nearby
Maungawhau
Maungawhau / Mount Eden is a scoria cone and Tūpuna Maunga (ancestral mountain) in the Mount Eden suburb of Auckland, New Zealand.
Geography
The cone is a dormant volcano and its summit, at above sea level, is the highest natural point on the ...
volcanic cone. Thomas designed a garden that with its winding paths, lookouts and naturalistic arrangement, while echoing the form and structure of gardens he had observed in southern Italy during his 1879 visit, was planted primarily with New Zealand flora. It seems probable that this was among the first
pakeha gardens to employ indigenous flora as the dominant feature of a horticultural landscape. Thomas' initiative in reintroducing indigenous planting was emulated by a number of his neighbours, such as the surgeon Sir
Carrick Robertson and the businessman Si
William Goodfellow and encouraged the preservation of the remnant Almorah lava forest, named for a nearby street. Thomas was also responsible for designing the grounds of the nearby Auckland Grammar School (1916) and, most probably, was involved in the design of the grounds of Auckland's other grammar schools. As a development of his interest in applied botany, Thomas also became interested in the hybridisation of daffodils for which he gained both local and international recognition.
Educational developments
From the time of his arrival in Auckland, Thomas evinced a particular interest in educational issues outside of his college responsibilities. He was keenly interested in technical education matters, notably agricultural science. In 1888 he addressed these issue in a series of provocative lectures and articles published in newspapers throughout the country in which he argued that given its dependence on mining and agriculture, New Zealand could only benefit from the proper teaching of agricultural botany and chemistry at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. His articles in the ''New Zealand Herald'' suggest both an awareness of the work of
Arthur Acland's educational reform lobby group, the National Association for the Promotion of Technical and Secondary Education and a recognition that this work had significant relevance to New Zealand. The association was an Oxford creation – Acland himself was an honorary fellow of Balliol College – and many of those involved with it had served as lecturers with the university extension programme at
Toynbee Hall in London's East End. In a statement that retains contemporary significance, Thomas opined that 'The true way ... to protect the interests of the working classes is to afford them opportunities of acquiring such knowledge and skill as will enable them to hold their own in competition with the rest of the world.'
Perhaps surprisingly given its conservative ideology, the ''Herald'' editorialised its support for Thomas' progressive proposals, observing that 'Professor Thomas is distinctly of the present and of the future, as indeed his colleagues are, and it is on the fact that our professors have thoroughly caught the temper of the times, and have brought themselves in touch with the onward spirit of colonial life, that the best hopes are based that our University institutions will prove to be the most influential and valuable of our educational agencies.' He also initiated a series of lectures on agricultural science at the AUC specifically aimed at teachers and farmers. For some years after, in the absence of any official activity, he provided advice and delivered lectures on agricultural matters to a wide range of agricultural organisations throughout the country. Thomas, along with Brown, was also behind an ultimately successful move to establish a school of mines at AUC in 1906. By 1910 the AUC school had morphed into what Sinclair describes as 'a covert School of Engineering', a move that despite opposition from the University of New Zealand became official in 1923.
Thomas's educational concerns prompted his election by the Senate of the University of New Zealand to the Auckland Grammar School Board in 1899, chaired b
George Maurice O'Rourkewho was also chairman of the AUC council. He was immediately elected vice-chairman and, in 1916, chairman in which position he served until his death in 1937 making him the second longest-serving chairman in Auckland Grammar’s history. Thomas' chairmanship of the board coincided with the last six years of
James Tibbs' long period as headmaster of Auckland Grammar School. The younger Thomas had been a contemporary of Tibbs at Oxford and, given that both took mathematics honours, they were probably acquainted. But where Tibbs chafed under the provisions of the 1914 Education Act, Thomas seems to have relished the opportunity it provided to develop the Grammar Schools as intellectual powerhouses. Under Thomas' dominant influence the Board expanded the number of schools under its control from one, housed on an inadequate inner-city site, to five, all housed in new, well-equipped premises:
Auckland Girls' Grammar School
"Through trials to triumph"
, colours = gold, navy blue
, type = State single-sex girls' secondary school (Years 9–13)
, established = 1878
, address = Howe Street, Newton, Auckland
, coordinates =
, principal = Ngaire Ashmore ...
(1909);
Auckland Grammar School
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...
(1915);
Epsom Girls' Grammar School
, motto_translation = ''Through difficulties to greatness.''
, coordinates =
, type = State Single Sex Girls Secondary (Year 9–13) with Boarding Facilities
, established = 12 February 1917
, MOE = 64
, principal = Lorraine Pound
, colo ...
(1917);
Mt Albert Grammar School
Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in ...
(1922); and
Takapuna Grammar School
Takapuna Grammar School is a state coeducational secondary school located in the suburb of Belmont on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Established in 1927, the school mainly serves the eponymous suburb of Takapuna and the entire Devo ...
(1927). In contrast to his successors as chair of the Auckland Grammar School Board, Thomas played a highly visible role in the activities of the schools until his death. He was a vice-chairman of the Dilworth Trust Board, the body responsible for
Dilworth School
Dilworth School, often referred to simply as Dilworth, is an independent full boarding school for boys in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest full boarding school in both the country and Australasia. Owned and operated by a charitable tru ...
, between 1906 and 1937 and a member of the
Auckland Teachers' Training College Committee of Advice between 1906 and 1914.
Thomas was a member of the Senate of the University of New Zealand between 1899 and 1903 and, again, between 1921 and 1933. He was also a member of the AUC council between 1919 and 1925. He was the
Bishop of Waiapu
The Diocese of Waiapu is one of the thirteen dioceses and hui amorangi of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The Diocese covers the area around the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, including Tauranga, Taup ...
's nominated member of the
St John's Theological College Board of Governors between 1910 and 1911.
Public science
In October 1913, a newly elected Reform government introduced legislation into the New Zealand Parliament creating a governmental scientific advisory body, the Board of Science and Art. Ross Galbreath asserts that the government intended that the board's primary function was to manage the Dominion (formerly Colonial) Museum and to publish scientific journals and reports, but its members appear to have had greater ambitions. Along with six others, Thomas was appointed to the board by an Order in Council in 1915. He appears to have played a significant role in galvanising its activities, notably in calling for 'a central advisory board' for science and industry. But early moves to establish a scientific advisory body modelled on the British Department of Scientific and Industrial Research failed due to the absence of any significant political support. It was only with the visit in 1926 of Frank Heath, permanent secretary of the British DSIR, along with a decision by the British
Empire Marketing Board
The Empire Marketing Board was formed in May 1926 by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery to promote intra-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'. It was established as a substitute for tariff reform and protectionist legislation and ...
to fund agricultural research in New Zealand, that a body to advise on the promotion of science in industry, also known as the DSIR, was formed.
Personal life
Notwithstanding the suggestion of
Francis Dillon Bell
Sir Francis Dillon Bell (8 October 1822 – 15 July 1898) was a New Zealand politician of the late 19th century. He served as New Zealand's third Minister of Finance (the first parliamentary finance minister), and later as its third Speaker of ...
, the New Zealand Agent General in London 'that a Mrs Professor would be a very great addition to the colony', Thomas arrived in New Zealand a bachelor although there are indications he had an unsuccessful shipboard romance on the outward voyage. He was accompanied by his younger sister Lucie Vernon Thomas (1862–1932) who would act as his hostess and housekeeper until February 1885. Soon after his arrival, he purchased a villa at Narrow Neck on Auckland's North Shore. On 19 November 1887 he married Emily Sarah Nolan Russell (1867–1950), the third of six daughters of Mary Ann Nolan (1834–1931) and her husband
John Benjamin Russell (1834–1894), an Auckland solicitor.
The Russells were a well-connected Auckland family: J B Russell's practice, Russell & Campbell, was – and, as
Russell McVeagh, remains – one of Auckland's leading legal firms; his eldest brother was the lawyer, politician and financier
Thomas Russell. Emily Thomas was a well-educated, travelled, woman of progressive ideas; in 1895 she was nominated unsuccessfully by the Auckland, Devonport and Ponsonby Schools Committees for a seat on the Auckland Education Board. Unfortunately in 1905 and, again, in 1908 she experienced a specific acute reactive disorder that led to her being admitted to Ashburn Hall, a private asylum in Dunedin. She remained there until March 1950 when she was transferred to Kingseat Hospital near Auckland, shortly before her death. Thomas, a lifelong cigarette smoker, died suddenly in Auckland on 28 December 1937. The Thomases had four children: three sons, Acland Withiel (1888–1962), Norman Russell Withiel (1891–1969), Arthur Edward Withiel (1904–1992); and a daughter, Mary Wynfrida Withiel (1893–1974).
Honours
Besides being a fellow of the
Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
(FLS, 1882), Thomas was a fellow of the
Geological Society (FGS, 1888), a fellow of the New Zealand Institute (1905), and after its transmogrification from an Institute into a royal society, an original fellow of the
Royal Society of New Zealand
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
, (FRSNZ, 1919) and an honorary fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Horticulture (1936). Following his resignation from the chair of biology and geology at Auckland University College in 1913 he was made professor emeritus by the college senate. He was awarded the
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935. In the
1937 George VI Coronation Honours Thomas was made
(KCMG) for services to education, a then extraordinary distinction for a New Zealander. Pallbearers at his funeral included the Hon
Peter Fraser
Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand La ...
, minister of education and later prime minister in the first Labour administration.
The Austrian naturalist and explorer
Andreas Reischek
Andreas Reischek (15 September 1845 – 3 April 1902) was an Austrian taxidermist, naturalist, ornithologist and grave robber notable for his extensive natural history collecting expeditions throughout New Zealand as well as being notorious for ...
named New Zealand's westernmost lake in Fiordland (45°59'14.3"S 166°30'09.8"E) after Thomas in 1887. Following his death, the executors of his estate gifted 100 acres (42 hectares) of land at
Piha
Piha is a coastal settlement in West Auckland, on the western coast of the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is one of the most popular beaches in the area and a major day-trip destination for Aucklanders throughout the year, and especially ...
to the Auckland City Council; this was supplemented in 1963 by the gift of Lion Rock (Te Piha), an eroded 16-million-year-old volcanic neck, that was acquired by two of his sons, Acland and Norman, from Te Kawerau in 1941. These gifts were commemorated in 2008 with the naming of a part of the gift as the Sir Algernon Thomas Green. In 1968, largely on the initiative of Sir
Douglas Robb, chancellor of the University of Auckland, the university's new biological sciences building was named in his honour. Following the subdivision of his garden, a road formed through the property (primarily through what had been his 'cow paddock') was named Withiel Drive in his memory, as was a reserve donated to the Auckland City Council in 1949 by his son Norman, which was based on a remnant of the Maungawhau lava field that he had preserved, Withiel Thomas Park.
Select publications
Reports
* 'Report on parasitic diseases in sheep in New Zealand', in ''Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives'' (1886), 3, H-23.
* ''Report on the eruption of Tarawera and Rotomahana'', NZ (Wellington: Government Printer, 1888).
* 'Interim report on parasitic diseases affecting rabbits in the Wairarapa district', in ''Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives'', (1888), 3, H-18.
* 'Report on parasitic diseases affecting rabbits in the Wairarapa district', in ''Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives'', (1889), 1, H-4.
* ''The grass grub pest'' (Wellington: Government Printer, 1913).
Papers
* 'Report of experiments on the development of the liver-fluke (''Fasciola hepatica'')', ''Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England'', 17:1, (1881), 1–29.
* 'The rot in sheep, or the life-history of the liver-fluke', ''Nature'', 26: 677, (1882), 606–608.
* 'Second report of experiments on the development of the liver-fluke (''Fasciola hepatica'')', ''Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England'', 18:2, (1882), 439–455.
* 'The life history of the liver-fluke (Fasciola hepatica), ''Quarterly Journal of Microscopal Science'', NS 23, (1883), 99–133.
* 'The natural history of the liver-fluke and the prevention of rot', ''Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England'', 19:1, (1883), 276–305.
* 'Journey to Rotomahana and Tarawera', ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'', 19, (1886), 602
otice
Otice (, german: Ottendorf) is a municipality and village in Opava District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,400 inhabitants.
History
The first written mention of Otice is from 1361.
Transport
The municipality ...
* 'Notes on the volcanic rocks of the Taupo district and King Country', ''Transactions of the New Zealand Institute'', 20, (1887), 306–311.
* 'Notes on the rocks of the Kermadec Islands', ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'', 20, (1887), 311–315.
* 'Notes on the geology of Tongariro and the Taupo district', ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'', 21, (1888), 338–353.
* 'Presidential address in section D Biology', in ''Report of the second meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Melbourne'', ed by W Baldwin Spencer (Sydney: the Association, 1890), 100–109.
* 'Preliminary note on the development of the Tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatum'')', ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of London'', 48:292–295 (1890), 151–156.
* 'On the preservation of the native fauna and flora of New Zealand', ''New Zealand Journal of Science'', 1:2 (1891),
* 'Preliminary account of the prothallium of ''Phylloglossum, ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of London'', 69:451–458, (1901), 285–291.
* 'On the prothallium of ''Phylloglossum, ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'', 34 (1901), 402–408.
* 'The affinity of ''Tmesipteris'' with the ''Spenophyllales, ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of London'', 69:451–458, (1901), 343–350.
* 'An alga-like fern prothallium', ''Annals of Botany'', OS16: 61, (1902), 165–170.
* 'Report on the fossils of the Manaia Hill Beds (Coromandel)', in C Fraser and J Adams, 'The geology of the Coromandel subdivision, Hauraki, Auckland', ''Bulletin of the New Zealand Geological Survey'', 4 (1907), 49–50.
References
External links
University of Auckland Library record for Algernon Thomas papers.
Library SearchUniversity of Auckland Library record for Algernon Thomas geology field notebooks and lecture notes, 1873–1914.
Sir Algernon Phillips Withiel Thomas - Papers, 1879-1978collections online record at
Auckland War Memorial Museum
The Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira (or simply the Auckland Museum) is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its collections concentrate on New Zealand history (and especially the history of the Auckl ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Algernon Phillips Withiel
1857 births
1937 deaths
New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
People from Birkenhead
English emigrants to New Zealand
New Zealand biologists
People educated at Manchester Grammar School
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
Fellows of the Geological Society of London
Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand
University of Auckland faculty