Robert Cecil Hayes (19 January 1900 – 3 September 1977) was a New Zealand astronomer, seismologist and organist. He was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand on 19 January 1900.

Career

Hayes did not have any formal qualifications, however he began work at the

Dominion Observatory, Wellington The Dominion Observatory is a historic observatory in the Botanic Gardens in Wellington, New Zealand. It was the second observatory in Wellington. It was built in 1907 and originally named the Hector Observatory after James Hector until 1925. It ...

(then named the Hector Observatory) in 1920. The observatory was responsible for maintaining the New Zealand Government Time Service. Hayes was trained in the astronomical observations necessary to keep the clocks accurate. Some of his initial work also involved working on the seismograph that the observatory inherited from seismologist

George Hogben George Hogben (14 July 1853 – 26 April 1920) was a New Zealand educationalist and seismologist. He was born in Islington, Middlesex, England on 14 July 1853, and died after a short illness at home in Khandallah, Wellington . He was Inspector-Gen ...

. Hayes became acting-director of the observatory after Charles Edward Adams retired from the position in 1936. He was acting-director for 12 years before the position was formalised. One of the contributions Hayes had while at the Observatory was the application of the Richter scale in New Zealand. He was in communication with

Charles Francis Richter Charles Francis Richter (; April 26, 1900 – September 30, 1985) was an American seismologist and physicist. Richter is most famous as the creator of the Richter magnitude scale, which, until the development of the moment magnitude scale in 19 ...

who had been developing the scale; and by using the same that Richter used, was able to apply it to earthquakes in New Zealand. Hayes was also interested on the research being done in the area of

deep-focus earthquakes A deep-focus earthquake in seismology (also called a plutonic earthquake) is an earthquake with a hypocenter depth exceeding 300 km. They occur almost exclusively at convergent boundaries in association with subducted oceanic lithosphere. They ...

. This subsequently lead to his own research on seismic waves and the conclusion that New Zealand was on the continental side of the crust near to the boundary between continental and oceanic crust. He also confirmed the occurrence of deep-focus earthquakes in new Zealand. In 1975, in recognition of his contributions, he was awarded the Hector Medal.

Personal life

Hayes was born in Wellington on 19 January 1900, to Robert Edward Hayes and Ellen Thomas. He was educated in Wellington before attending Christ's College in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

from 1914 to 1918. Hayes married Margaret Wyn Beere on 1 December 1932; they had two daughters. He was the organist at St Mary's Anglican Church in

Karori Karori is a suburb located at the western edge of the urban area of Wellington, New Zealand, 4 km from the city centre and is one of New Zealand's most populous suburbs, with a population of in History Origins The name ''Karori'' used ...

, Wellington for 35 years. He died in Auckland on 3 September 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Robert 1900 births 1977 deaths People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch 20th-century New Zealand astronomers 20th-century New Zealand geologists New Zealand classical organists Male classical organists Scientists from Wellington City 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century organists 20th-century male musicians