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Meteorology at Melbourne Observatory, 1863-1908
Image: Negative - Copy
Source: Museum Victoria
The collecting of meteorological data was an important aspect of Melbourne Observatory's work from its inception in 1863. Just as astronomy had an important practical role to play in navigation, timekeeping and surveying, so the meteorological service provided up to date weather information and forecasts that were essential for shipping and agriculture.
By 1870 Government Astronomer Robert Ellery had a well organised system in place. Meteorological instruments on the east of the Observatory site automatically recorded temperature and air pressure; full records were sent from 7 major country sites, and records of rainfall from another 16 volunteers. This network gradually expanded until by 1893 Ellery was receiving rainfall records from 514 places around Victoria.
In collaboration with the government astronomers at Sydney and Adelaide, Ellery also established a system of intercolonial weather reports, sent daily by telegraph. By 1877 the three observatories were exchanging weather information twice a day by telegraph, and from 1881 Ellery provided the newspapers with a daily weather map of Australia and a forecast of the day's weather. Information and forecasts were telegraphed to the country stations each afternoon.
In the late 1890s the Observatory participated in an international project to observe and photograph clouds for one year, to provide data that could relate cloud types to other meteorological information such as air pressure and rain. Observers around Victoria were trained to observe cloud types and send in information, while special photographic apparatus was installed at the Observatory and on the roof of Parliament House.
Meteorology also had an important symbolic role in the development of the nation. The colonial government astronomers, with their dependence on one another for astronomical information, timekeeping, surveying and weather information, had established a form of scientific federalism that predated the moves to political federalism. The daily weather map of Australia inside each newspaper declared that there were fundamental meteorological relationships linking the colonies. Meteorology, like astronomy, was one of the specific functions listed in the Australian Constitution to be taken over by the Commonwealth Government, and in 1907 several Melbourne Observatory staff were transferred to the new Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology.
The long-term value of the records was also recognised, and in 1919 the complete records of the Melbourne Observatory and its network of stations was statistically analysed and published.
References:
Baracchi, Pietro (1919). Victorian Meteorological Statistics Based on all available records obtained at 1,046 official stations from Jan. 1856 to Dec. 1907, Melbourne: Government Printer.
Home, R.W. & Livingston, K.T. (1994). 'Science and Technology in the Story of Australian Federation: The Case of Meteorology, 1876-1908,' Historical Records of Australian Science, 10(2), pp.109-127.
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Star Catalogue - Epoch 1890, Melbourne Observatory, 1917
Third Melbourne General Catalogue of Stars, for the Epoch 1880, Melbourne Observatory, 1917. The published catalogue of 3068 stars is based on observations primarily undertaken by Edwa ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 2 -
Plan - Transit Room, Melbourne Observatory, 1861
Plan from the Melbourne Observatory drawn on off-white paper in black ink showing the West Elevation of the First Transit Room, completed in 1863.
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 1 -
No Image Available
Anemograph Record - Melbourne Observatory, 31 December 1911
Original Anemometer observations from Melbourne Observatory, of 9:44am 31 December 1911 to 9:43am 1 January 1912. Anemographs measure wind speed and velocity. These measurements were, ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 0 -
No Image Available
Anemograph Record - Melbourne Observatory, 28 May 1912
Original Anemometer observations from Melbourne Observatory, of 9:46am 28 May 1912 to 9:40am 19 May 1912. Anemographs measure wind speed and velocity. These measurements were, and rem ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 0 -
No Image Available
Anemograph Record - Melbourne Observatory, 29 May 1912
Original Anemometer observations from Melbourne Observatory, of 9:42am 29 May 1912 to 9:45am 30 May 1912. Anemographs measure wind speed and velocity. These measurements were, and rem ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 0 -
No Image Available
Anemograph Record - Melbourne Observatory, 30 May 1912
Original Anemometer observations from Melbourne Observatory, of 9:48am 30 May 1912 to 9:41am 31 May 1912. Anemographs measure wind speed and velocity. These measurements were, and rem ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 0 -
No Image Available
Anemograph Results - Melbourne Observatory, 1875-1892
3 bundles of monthly statistics of Anemograph Results, unbound. Dates 1/1875 - 12/1879; 1/1885 - 2/1889; 1/1890 - 6/1892. From Melbourne Observatory. Anemographs measure wind speed a ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 0 -
Plan - Transit Room, Melbourne Observatory, 1861
One of a set of drawings for the construction of the Melbourne Observatory at South Yarra. The plans are dated 1861 and construction of the main buildings at the Observatory was complet ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 1 -
Plan - Transit Telescope, Troughton & Simms, 5 inch, 1861
One of a set of drawings for the construction of the Melbourne Observatory at South Yarra. The plans are dated 1861 and construction of the main buildings at the Observatory was complet ...
From: London, United Kingdom Images: 1 -
Plan - Transit Room Shutters, Melbourne Observatory, 1861
One of a set of drawings for the construction of the Melbourne Observatory at South Yarra. The plans are dated 1861 and construction of the main buildings at the Observatory was complet ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 1
