Minerals in the Australian Museum—1901 to 1945
Abstract
The first full time mineralogist in the Australian Museum was appointed in 1881. Since then there has been an unbroken succession of full time curators none of which curiously enough was born in Australia. This has meant that there has been continuing activity in the Mineralogy Department. This part of the history deals mainly with important acquisitions to the collections, research particularly in mineralogy and meteoritics, field work undertaken, and the striking development in display and numerous other activities relating to the general work carried out by the Museum in education. There were two curators (or mineralogists as they were called) during the period 1901/1945 Charles Anderson and Thomas Hodge-Smith. In addition to giving an account of their work, this paper throws some light on their character and personality. Their relationship with notable private collectors is touched on.
