Charles Anderson (5 December 1876,

Stenness Stenness (pronounced ) ( non, Steinnes; nrn, Stennes) is a village and parish on the Orkney Mainland in Scotland. It contains several notable prehistoric monuments including the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar. Geography S ...

– 25 October 1944

Darlinghurst, New South Wales Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. I ...

) was an Australian mineralogist and palaeontologist. He was director of the

Australian Museum The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest museum in Australia,Design 5, 2016, p.1 and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the ...

from 1921 to 1940.

Career

Charles Anderson was the youngest son of John Anderson of Moa, Stenness, Orkney Islands, Scotland. He had eight siblings (two brothers, six sisters). After finishing school in Stennes and

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

he was matriculated at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

to study chemistry, crystallography, geology, mineralogy, physics, and zoology. He also obtained distinction in English Literature, Latin, and senior mathematics. In 1898 he graduated to Master of Arts, in 1900 to Bachelor of Science and in 1908 to Doctor of Science. On 21 July 1901 he joined the Australian Museum as mineralogist. On 18 January 1902 he married Elsie Helen Robertson with whom he had two daughters and one son. He initially began his research work in morphological crystallography and the chemistry of minerals in Australia. In 1911 he visited several European museum collections whereat he reported in 1912. In 1916 he published the crystal measurements and drawings of 45 mineral species in Australia. He later concentrated on the research field of vertebrate palaeontology. When fossils of a second ''

Meiolania ''Meiolania'' ("small roamer") is an extinct genus of meiolaniid stem-turtle native to Australasia from the Middle Miocene to Late Pleistocene and possibly Holocene. It is best known from fossils found on Lord Howe Island, though fossils are know ...

'' species were discovered on

Walpole Island Walpole Island is an island and First Nation reserve in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the border between Ontario and Michigan in the United States. It is located in the mouth of the St. Clair River on Lake St. Clair, about by road from Winds ...

, he published a revision of the whole genus in 1925.Anderson, C. (1925). "Notes on the extinct Chelonian Meiolania, with a record of a new occurrence". Records of the Australian Museum 14 (4): 223–242. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.14.1925.844. After the death of

Robert Etheridge, Junior Robert Etheridge (23 May 1847 – 4 January 1920) was a British palaeontologist who made important contributions to the Australian Museum.Australian Museum, 2015Walsh, 1981Serle, 1949 Biography Etheridge was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire ...

(1847–1920), Anderson was appointed director of the museum at which position he stayed until his retirement on 31 October 1940. He was president of the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June ...

(1924), the

Linnean Society of New South Wales The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes ''the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches'' and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) in 1874 and incorporated in 1884. History The Society succe ...

(1932), the

Anthropological Society of New South Wales The Anthropological Society of New South Wales was formed in 1928, by William Walford Thorpe, ethnologist of the Australian Museum, Clifton Cappie Towle and three others. It published '' The Australian Journal of Anthropology'' (originally ti ...

(1930 and 1931), and the

Geographical Society of New South Wales Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

(1941 and 1942). He was among the founders of the Art Galleries and Museums Association of Australia and New Zealand, and a member of the

Australian National Research Council The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

. Additionally he was a corresponding member of the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

, New York, and a corresponding member of the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

. He was one of the honorary secretaries of the Royal Society of New South Wales from 1935 to 1943.

Footnotes

References

* T. Hodge-Smith: ''The late Dr Charles Anderson'',

The Australian Geographer ''Australian Geographer'' (''The Australian Geographer'' until 1975) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Geographical Society of New South Wales since August 1928. Covering all aspects of Australian geography, it is c ...

, 4:6,226–227 *Anonymous:
''Charles Anderson: 5th December, 1876–25th October, 1944''
In Recordings of the Australian Museum 21(6): 279–282, 1945 *R. O. Chalmers:
Anderson, Charles (1876–1944)
In:

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

Volume 7, (MUP), 1979 {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Charles 1876 births 1944 deaths Australian paleontologists 20th-century Australian geologists Directors of museums in Australia Australian mineralogists People from Orkney Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish emigrants to Australia