Phillip Garth Law, AC,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

, FTSE (21 April 1912 – 28 February 2010) was an Australian scientist and explorer who served as director of Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) from 1949 to 1966.

Early life

Law was born in

Tallangatta Tallangatta () is a town in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. The town lies on the banks of the Mitta Arm of Lake Hume, approximately south-east of Albury-Wodonga along the Murray Valley Highway. At the , Tallangatta had a population of 1 ...

, Victoria, the second of six children of Arthur and Lily Law. One of his younger sisters was the traveller and writer Wendy Law Suart. After attending Hamilton High School, he taught in secondary schools, including Melbourne High School where he taught physics and boxing, while studying part-time 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 no ...

, earning an MSc in 1941. He was the Melbourne University lightweight boxing champion and also lectured in physics there from 1943 to 1948. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he enlisted in the

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

, though the university physics department, which was involved in weapons research, insisted that he continue his work there. He did however manage to visit the battle areas of New Guinea on a four-month scientific mission for the Australian Army.

Antarctic exploration

He spent the first of many summers in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

in 1947–8 as a senior research officer on ANARE. He soon became director due to his strong belief in the value of management and educational techniques that ensured that each individual had more than one role. During his directorship, he established bases in Mawson, Davis and Casey, and led expeditions that explored more than of coastline and some of territory. After retiring from the directorship, he chaired the Australian National Committee on Antarctic Research from 1966 to 1980. He was elected President of the

Royal Society of Victoria The Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) is the oldest scientific society in the state of Victoria in Australia. Foundation In 1854 two organisations formed with similar aims and membership, these being ''The Philosophical Society of Victoria'' (fo ...

from 1967 to 1968. Law's wife, Nel, a secondary school teacher, professional artist and writer, was the first Australian woman to visit Antarctica when she visited Mawson in 1961. Nel died in 1990, aged 75. In 1986, Australia established the Law Station in Antarctica named after Law. It was donated to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

in 2006, when it was renamed to the Law-Racoviță Station. Since 2011, it is known as the

Law-Racoviță-Negoiță Station The Law-Racoviță-Negoiță Station ( ro, Stația Law-Racoviță-Negoiță), known only as the Law-Racoviță Station () until 2011, is the first Romanian station for research and exploration in Antarctica, named after the Romanian explorer Emil ...

, and it is still administrated by Romania. He attended the launch of the Fourth

International Polar Year The International Polar Years (IPY) are collaborative, international efforts with intensive research focus on the polar regions. Karl Weyprecht, an Austro-Hungarian naval officer, motivated the endeavor in 1875, but died before it first occurred ...

on 1 March 2007 in the hall of the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Phillip Law died on 28 February 2010, aged 97. His ashes, together with those of his wife Nel, were interred near the

Mawson Station The Mawson Station, commonly called Mawson, is one of three permanent bases and research outposts in Antarctica managed by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). Mawson lies in Holme Bay in Mac. Robertson Land, East Antarctica in the Austra ...

on 19 June 2011.

Honours

Phillip Law was appointed a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the New Year's Honours of 1961. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1975 and a Companion of the Order (AC) in the

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

Honours of 1995. In 1960 he was awarded the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, in 1987 the

James Cook Medal The James Cook Medal is awarded on an occasional basis by the Royal Society of New South Wales for "outstanding contributions to science and human welfare in and for the Southern Hemisphere". It was established in 1947 from funds donated by Henry F ...

of the Royal Society of New South Wales, and in 1988, the Australian Geographic's Adventurer of the Year Award. On 1 January 2001, he was also awarded the Centenary Medal.It's an Honour: Centenary Medal
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Publications

Law published several papers on his exploration work in the Royal Geographical Society's ''Geographical Journal'', including: * 1954 – Australian Antarctic Expedition to Mac-Robertson Land 1954. ''Geographical Journal'' Vol. 120, Part 4, pp. 409–422. * 1956 – Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition, 1955. ''Geographical Journal'', Vol. 122. * 1958 – The Antarctic voyage of MV ''Thala Dan'', 1958. ''Geographical Journal''. * 1958 – Australian coastal exploration in Antarctica. ''Geographical Journal''. Vol 124, Part 2. * 1960 – New ANARE landings in Australian Antarctic Territory 1960. ''Geographical Journal''. * 1961 – Australian coastal explorations in Antarctica, 1957. ''Geographical Journal''. Vol 127, Part 4. * 1961 – Australian coastal explorations in Antarctica, 1959. ''Geographical Journal''. Books or booklets authored or coauthored by Law include: * 1957 – ''ANARE: Australia's Antarctic Outposts''. (With John Béchervaise). OUP: Melbourne. * 1962 – ''Australia and the Antarctic''. (

John Murtagh Macrossan John Murtagh Macrossan (1832 – 30 March 1891) was an Australian politician of the late 19th century in the parliament of Queensland. Early and parliamentary life Macrossan was born in Donegal, Ireland. He moved to the colony of Victoria a ...

Memorial Lectures 1960). University of Queensland Press: Brisbane. * 1964 – ''Antarctica – 1984''. (Sir John Morris Memorial Lecture 1964). Adult Education Board of Tasmania: Hobart * 1983 – ''Antarctic Odyssey''. Heinemann: Melbourne. * 1995 – ''The Antarctic Voyage of HMAS Wyatt Earp''. Allen & Unwin Australia. * 1995 – ''You Have to be Lucky: Antarctic and Other Adventures''. Kangaroo Press: Kenthurst.

References

External links

Phillip Garth Law's holdings at the National Library, Australia

Obituary in ''The Times''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Law, Phillip Explorers of Antarctica Companions of the Order of Australia Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1912 births 2010 deaths Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Australian Antarctic scientists Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering