Austin Burton Edwards (15 August 1909 – 8 October 1960) was an Australian geologist, winner of the

Clarke Medal The Clarke Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of New South Wales, the oldest learned society in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, for distinguished work in the Natural sciences. The medal is named in honour of the Reverend William Bran ...

in 1960.

Family

The son of William Burton Edwards (1856-1925), the Commissioner of the Federal Public Service, and his second wife, Mabel Edwards (1871-1939), née Mueller, Austin Burton Edwards was born in Caulfield on 15 August 1909. He married Eileen Mary McDonnell (1913-1985), in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, on 22 April 1935.Vallance, 1996. They had four children.

Caulfield Grammar School

He was educated at

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day school, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as ...

from 1916 to 1927—representing the school in both swimming and athletics over a number of years—where he was both

School Captain A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compul ...

and ''Dux'' of School in 1926. He was a member of the Caulfield Grammar School Council for 12 years, from 1949 until his death in 1960.

Sportsman

Football

On 17 April 1931 he was awarded a "half-blue" for football by the University of Melbourne. In June 1931, while playing with Old Caulfield Grammarians in C-Section of the

Metropolitan Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. It consists of seven senior men's and women's divisions ranging from Premier to Division 4. In addition there ...

, he was chosen (as a back-pocket resting ruckman), to play for a Combined C-Section team, against a Combined B-Section tam as a curtain raiser to the inter-State amateur football match between Victoria and South Australia, on the MCG. He was one of the best on the ground.

Athletics

While studying at the Royal College of Science he was awarded "colours" in athletics.

Tertiary education

Melbourne University

He studied at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, graduating Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) with First-Class Honours in Geology on 12 April 1930. In 1942, with 12 years having elapsed since his graduation as B.Sc., he was awarded a Doctor of Science (D.Sc.), on the basis of his submission of "42 published papers, covering work in petrology, economic geology and

physiography Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, h ...

". He graduated on 21 December 1942.

Royal College of Science

Having won a 1851 Royal Exhibition Scholarship for Science Research and free passage to England in 1932, he studied at the

Royal College of Science The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, and graduated Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and Diploma of Imperial College (D.I.C.) in 1934.

C.S.I.R.O.

Soon after his return to Australia, he was appointed Research Officer in the mineragraphic section of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (C.S.I.R.) in 1935. In the process, he became the associate of Frank L. Stillwell (1888-1963); and on Stllwell's retirement in 1953, Edwards became officer-in-charge of the mineragraphic section of what had become the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (C.S.I.R.O.). From 1941 to 1955 Edwards, while still at C.S.I.R., lectured part-time in geology at the University of Melbourne, occasionally offering postgraduate lectures.

Death

He collapsed and died in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on 8 October 1960 while on a working visit to Europe.Deaths: Edwards, ''The Age'', (Tuesday, 11 October 1960), p.16.
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Works

For details of his more than 100 journal articles, see Stillwell (1961), pp. 492–496.
Edwards, A.B. (1932), "The Geology and Petrology of the Black Spur Area, Healesville", ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria'', Volume 44, Part I, pp.49-76.
(Read to the Royal Society of Victoria on 11 June 1931.)
Edwards, A.B. (1932), "The Geology and Petrology of the Warburton Area, Victoria", Volume 44, Part II, pp.163-181.
(Read to the Royal Society of Victoria on 12 November 1931.)
Edwards, A.B. (1932), "On the Dacite-Granodiorite Contact Relations in the Warburton Area", Volume 44, Part II, pp.182-199.
(Read to the Royal Society of Victoria on 10 December 1931.) * Edwards, A.B. (1947), ''Textures of the Ore Minerals and their Significance'', Melbourne: Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. * Edwards, A.B. (ed.) (1953), ''Geology of Australian Ore Deposits: Fifth Empire Mining and Metallurgical Congress, Australia and New Zealand, 1953: A Symposium arranged by a Committee of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy'', Melbourne: Office of the Congress and of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. * Edwards, A.B. (1954), ''Textures of the Ore Minerals and their Significance (Second Edition)'', Melbourne: Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

Notes

References

David Syme Research Prize: Divided by Two Scientists, ''The Age'', (Tuesday, 25 May 1937), p.10.

Doctor of Science: Working on Ores, ''The Cairns Post'', (Saturday, 12 December 1942), p.6.

Stillwell, F.L., "Memorial of Austin Burton Edwards", ''The American Minaeralogist'', Vol.40, Nos.3 and 4, (March-April), 1961, pp.488-496.
* * *

External links

Austin Edwards
at ''findagrave.com''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Austin Burton 1909 births 1960 deaths People educated at Caulfield Grammar School University of Melbourne alumni Alumni of the Royal College of Science Geologists from Melbourne 20th-century Australian geologists People from Caulfield, Victoria CSIRO people