Cecil Thomas Madigan (15 October 1889 – 14 January 1947) was an Australian explorer and geologist, academic, aerial surveyor, meteorologist, author and officer of the British army. He was born in

Renmark, South Australia Renmark is a town in South Australia's rural Riverland area, and is located northeast of Adelaide, on the banks of the River Murray. The Sturt Highway between Adelaide and Sydney runs through the town; Renmark is the last major town encountered ...

. His family had associations with William Benjamin Chaffey.

Biography

Born to contractor and fruitgrower Thomas Madigan and Mary Dixie (née Finey) a teacher, Cecil Madigan was the oldest of two sons and two daughters. He was raised by his mother as his father had died in the Kalgoorlie, Western Australian Goldfields. He attended

Prince Alfred College Prince Alfred College is a private, independent, day school, day and boarding school for boys, located on Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town, South Australia, Kent Town, near the Adelaide city centre, centre of Adelaide, South Australia. One of th ...

in Adelaide, the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, and the South Australian School of Mining and Industry. He won a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

in 1911 to study geology at

Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, but deferred the appointment as he was invited by Sir

Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was a British-born Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during ...

to go as meteorologist on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. In December 1911 the party left

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

on board the {. In January 1912 they reached Commonwealth Bay in

Adélie Land Adélie Land ( ) or Adélie Coast is a Territorial claims in Antarctica, claimed territory of France located on the continent of Antarctica. It stretches from a portion of the Southern Ocean coastline all the way inland to the South Pole. Franc ...

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

, where they set up a collection of buildings subsequently known as Mawson's Huts. From there he led several expeditions into uncharted regions of Adélie Land and George V Land. These expeditions gathered vital information about the presence of coal in Antarctica. He was awarded the Polar Medal upon their return. Madigan later served with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

in France during the First World War. He saw action at the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used Chemical weapons in World War I, ...

where he was wounded, and the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

. Throughout the 1930s, Madigan participated in numerous aerial surveys of the "trackless areas" of Central Australia, during which time he named the

Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of . The Wangka ...

after the president of the South Australian branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia -- Alfred Allen Simpson. In 1937 he confirmed that the Boxhole crater is a meteoric impact crater. In 1939 he led the first major expedition across the Simpson Desert. Although he was not the first to cross the desert, he has become known as the last of the "classic" explorers of central Australia. For many years he worked as a lecturer in geology at the University of Adelaide.

Family

He married Wynnis Knight Wollaston, a native of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, Australia, whilst he was in London in 1915. The daughter of Cecil Madigan is renowned Australian sculptor Rosemary Madigan, and her daughter is leading harpist Alice Giles.Alice and Rosemary
// Stateline Canberra, Friday, 5 November 2010 Descendants include David Madigan (deceased) and his two children, Sir Russell Madigan (deceased) and his five children, Neith Madigan (deceased) and her four children, Robourne Madigan (deceased), Rosemary Madigan (deceased) and her three children. He died of Coronary Vascular disease in Adelaide, on 14 January 1947.

Publications

* 1944 - ''Central Australia''. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. * 1946 - ''Crossing the Dead Heart''. Georgian House: Melbourne. * 2012 - ''Madigan's Account: The Mawson Expedition : the Antarctic Diaries of C.T. Madigan, 1911-1914'' Wellington Bridge Press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madigan, Cecil 1889 births 1947 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Australasian Antarctic Expedition 20th-century Australian explorers 20th-century Australian geologists 20th-century Australian non-fiction writers Australian Rhodes Scholars Explorers of Australia People educated at Prince Alfred College People from Renmark, South Australia University of Adelaide alumni

Biography

Family

See also

Publications

References