Oswald Henry Theodore Rishbeth (né Rischbieth 1886, in

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital Ad ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

– 1946) was an Australian geographer who was Professor and Chair of Geography at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

, England. He is considered a pioneer of academic geography in Britain.Edwards, K.C.,
The Broadening Vista
, ''Geography'', Vol. 52, No. 3 (July 1967), pp. 245-259 (15 pages).Darby, H.C.,
Academic Geography in Britain: 1918-1946
, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Vol. 8, No. 1, The Institute of British Geographers 1933-1983: A Special Issue of Transactions to Mark the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Institute (1983), pp. 14-26.Keltie, Sir John Scott, "The Position of Geography in British Universities", Oxford University Press, 1921. He was the husband of zoologist

Kathleen Rishbeth Kathleen Haddon Rishbeth (13 May 1888 – 6 September 1961) was a British zoologist, photographer and collector of string figures.Henry Rishbeth (1999) 'Kathleen Haddon (1888–1961)', ''Bulletin of the International String Figure Association'', ...

Early life and education

Oswald Rishbeth was born Oswald Rischbieth in Mount Gambier, the son of a merchant from

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, Germany.Wood, R.K.S.,
John Rishbeth. 10 July 1918-1 June 1991
, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, Vol. 41 (Nov., 1995), pp. 360-376 (17 pages) His father was Heinrich Carl Rischbieth (1840-1921). Oswald had five brothers and two sisters. In Mount Gambier, Rishbeth was taught classics by

Hartley Williams His Honour Sir Hartley Williams (15 October 1843 – 12 July 1929), was a Supreme Court of Victoria judge. Williams was born in Collingwood, Victoria, the second son of Sir Edward Williams and his wife Jessie, Lady Williams, ''née'' Gibbon. ...

. He continued his education at Kyre College in Adelaide (now Scotch College.)Read, Peter, and Alex Pouw-Bray, "Ninety Years at Torrens Park: the Scotch College Story", Wakefield Press, 2010. In 1905, he won an essay contest in the Mount Gambier Caledonian Society Competition. After Kyre College, Rishbeth studied Classics at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

, obtaining a first-class honors B.A. in Classics in November 1909. While in Adelaide, Rishbeth taught at

Adelaide High School Adelaide High School is a coeducational state high school situated on the corner of West Terrace and Glover Avenue in the Adelaide Parklands. Following the Advanced School for Girls, it was the second government high school in South Australia ...

during 1910. He obtained a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

to the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where he studied classics and geography at

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...

. At Oxford he was "made an honorary Post-Master (i.e., scholar) of his college," a position that "ranks as one of some prominence in the college and college life of Oxford", and was elected to th
Jowett Society
a philosophical discussion forum.PERSONAL
, ''The Advertiser'', Tue 10 Feb 1914. At Oxford he may have attended lectures by archeologist

John Myres Sir John Linton Myres Kt OBE FBA FRAI (3 July 1869 in Preston – 6 March 1954 in Oxford) was a British archaeologist and academic, who conducted excavations in Cyprus in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Life He was the son of t ...

, then the Wykeham Professor of Ancient History.Wagstaff, Malcolm, "The Contribution of Early Travel Narratives to the Historical Geography of Greece - A Lecture", The University of Oxford, 2004. He had intended to continue studying for a Ph.D. in Germany, but could not as a result of the war.

Military service

During World War I, Rishbeth served as an Intelligence Officer in Diplomatic Corps of the British Army, anglicizing his name to Rishbeth.Craig Campbell,
Adelaide High School: Inventing a state high school
, Dehanz, March 6, 2019.Visiting English Teachers
, ''Border Watch'', Mount Gambier, SA: Tues 12 Sep 1950. He was posted to the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

and was "involved in operations in and around the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...

." Having studied Greek at

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 ...

, during the war he was "a member of the British delegation which went to Athens to endeavor to induce King Constantine to join with the allies." As a result, in 1918 he was awarded the order of the Knight of the Savior of the Greek Nation, "in recognition of his services there."Mount Gambier and District
''The South Eastern Times'', Millicent, SA, Tue 2 Jul 1918. The war provided Rishbeth's introduction to geography and his move away from classics. Rishbeth had been involved in the Geographical Section of the Naval Intelligence Division of the Admiralty, writing "geographical handbooks on various parts of the world." Variants of these handbooks were also used in World War II.

Academic career

After the war, despite his background in

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

, Rishbeth was attracted to geography "because of the opportunity it afforded ... to construct a synthesis of the different fields of knowledge concerned with man/environment relationships." He taught geography at University College, Aberstwyth and later the

. At Aberystwyth he taught under Professor

Herbert John Fleure Herbert John Fleure, (6 June 1877 – 1 July 1969) was a British zoologist and geographer. He was secretary of the Geographical Association, editor of ''Geography'', and president of the Cambrian Archaeological Association (1924–25), Roy ...

.Steel, Robert W. (ed.), "British Geography 1918-1945", Cambridge University Press. Some of his early research was inspired by his military service. In 1919 Rishbeth presented research on the

islands, where he had served in the war, to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In March 1920 he was invited by the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

to respond to a lecture on the Dodecanese by

, together with

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos ( el, Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος, translit=Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movem ...

, then Prime Minister of Greece. This interest continued; Rishbeth's last paper, albeit unpublished, was on the "corn supply of ancient Greece." Rishbeth joined the faculty at Southampton in 1922 and from 1926 was the first chair of historical geography, serving until 1938. There he was described as:

a tall individual, somewhat aristocratic in manner but kindly and generous to students. He was hardly a good teacher but had an excellent style as a lecturer and performed well with the carefully preepared topics which he handled... edid well in re-establishing his Department as a new force in the quest for geography.

He was known for his compilation of geography textbooks that were used in schools in multiple Australian states. He published research on the geography of Central South England and Central Australia. In 1926, he led a geographic survey of the

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

district, and later contributed a study of land utilization in Southampton. In 1923 he published a new theory on the structure of the earth. In 1933, Rishbeth was a founding member of the

Institute of British Geographers The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. He was involved in the joint committee to form an "Association of University Geographers." Rishbeth retired due to ill health in 1938. His correspondence and papers are held at Oxford University's

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

Family

Oswald's uncle was

Charles Rischbieth Charles Frederick Rischbieth (5 January 1835 – 5 April 1893), born Carl Friedrich Rischbieth, was a leading businessman in the early years of the colony of South Australia. History Rischbieth was born in Neustadt am Rübenberge, near Hanover, ...

(17 May 1840 – 6 February 1921), a leading businessman in the early days of the colony of South Australia. Through his cousin Henry Wills Rischbieth he was related to influential social reformer

Bessie Rischbieth Bessie Mabel Rischbieth, (née Earle; 16 October 187413 March 1967) was an influential and early Australian feminist and social activist. A leading or founding member of many social reform groups, such as the Women's Service Guilds, The Aus ...

. In September 1917 Rishbeth married

Kathleen Haddon Kathleen Haddon Rishbeth (13 May 1888 – 6 September 1961) was a British zoologist, photographer and collector of string figures.Henry Rishbeth (1999) 'Kathleen Haddon (1888–1961)', ''Bulletin of the International String Figure Association'' ...

(1888-1961), an Irish-born anthropologist and zoologist, in Cambridge.Mendillo, M.,
Henry Rishbeth: A remembrance
, 25th CEDAR Meeting, Boulder, CO., June 2010. He had three children,Obituary
''Man'', Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 62 (Jan., 1962), pp. 10-12 (3 pages) including the biologist John Rishbeth, and physicist Henry Rishbeth. His brother, W. A. Rischbieth, served in the

Australian Flying Corps The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was the branch of the Australian Army responsible for operating aircraft during World War I, and the forerunner of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The AFC was established in 1912, though it was not until ...

at the Front in World War I. One of his nephews was

Charles Rischbieth Jury Charles Rischbieth Jury (13 September 1893 – 22 August 1958), generally known by his initials or full name, was a poet and academic in Adelaide, South Australia, who spent much of his working life in Europe. History Charles was born in Glenel ...

, a poet and academic at the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rishbeth, Oswald Australian geographers 1886 births Australian Rhodes Scholars Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Academics of the University of Southampton Academics of Aberystwyth University 1946 deaths People from Mount Gambier, South Australia Australian people of German descent People educated at Scotch College, Adelaide University of Adelaide alumni Australian military personnel of World War I Military personnel from South Australia