AUSTRALIA ~ The Antipodes

AUSTRALIA ~ The Antipodes
I love a sunburnt country / A land of sweeping plains / Of ragged mountain ranges / Of droughts and flooding rains / I love her far horizons / I love her jewel-sea / Her beauty and her terror / The wide brown land for me / ~ Dorothea Mackellar (1885-1968)

Followers

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

William Parkinson Wilson


This grave for William Parkinson Wilson is at Mornington Cemetery on the Mornington Peninsula.
Born in 1826? in Northamptonshire, England, he was founding professor of mathematics at Queen's College, Belfast in 1854.
But a year later, he was one of the first 4 professors appointed to the University of Melbourne.
He may have been a Professor of Mathematics, but his special interest was astronomy.
In 1871, he led an expedition to north Queensland to observe an eclipse of the sun.
He established an observatory at Mornington.
In 1874, he participated in observations of the transit of Venus.
Two days later, on 11th December 1874, he died of cerebral haemorrhage.
William had been suffering ill health for some time, but perhaps the excitement of this event contributed to his death.
He was just 49.

William was a bachelor, lived in university apartments and later maintained a house in Mornington named Wolfdene.
(According to one source, it was formerly Mornington Hotel for some 10 years after 1858 and then became a school?)
As Mornington was only accessible by water or horse back at the time, it is presumed he only stayed there when the university was in recess.
But he took care of the education of his two nephews.
This partly explains why his nephew's name appears with him on his headstone.
More information on the varied career of this academic is HERE!

An academic
A man of many colours
Who loved star gazing

Linking to:
Taphophile Tragics

6 comments:

Naquillity said...

sounds like he contributed to society/ family and lived a full life. such a tragedy when ones life is taken so soon. hope all is well.

hamilton said...

haven't heard of any other deaths over the excitement of the recent Transit of Venus!

Maude Lynn said...

Forty nine is so young!

SeaThreePeeO said...

Great post, such an interesting man.

Herding Cats

Francisca said...

Wilson's life and death epitomizes the wisdom that it is better to go out in a blaze of glory rather than to fizzle out slowly.

Julie said...

Sure, the professor was only 49. but his nephew was only 20!

What is a 'sizarship' and what is a senior 'wranglar'?

There are some things about this gentleman that lead me to believe he would be a very hard chap to be married to, happily. A short person with a temper is not a pretty sight.

CALENDAR

Tasmania

Tasmania
A place of beauty in the Western Tiers

Tasmania

Tasmania
View near Blackwood Park Cottages, Mole Creek

New Landscapes

New Landscapes
New Worlds

Archive of Blog Quotes

  • A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent
  • Autumn is an introspective season when stray thoughts of the mind dive into the mystique of the soul - Gemma Wiseman
  • Autumn is the bridesmaid of Summer and the flowergirl of Winter ~ Gemma Wiseman
  • Autumn whispers the tones of yesterday in a minor key ~ Gemma Wiseman
  • Love is born / With a dark and troubled face, / When hope is dead / And in the most unlikely place; / Love is born, / Love is always born. - Michael Leunig's Christmas Song Cycle "Southern Star"
  • Spring paints the stars of heaven in Earth colours ~ Gemma Wiseman
  • Summer sizzles with a sibilant hush / Broken by dreams of / Clinking ice ~ Gemma Wiseman
  • The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul. - G.K. Chesterton
  • Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. - Stanley Horowitz
  • Winter is the fire, simmering lonely in the soul ~ Gemma Wiseman
  • Winter is the shadow, the etching of the seasons in the mist ~ Gemma Wiseman

Google Analytics

The Inner Light of the Spirit

The Inner Light of the Spirit
The Spirit of Inner Light

Lady Gemma

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Lady Gemma the Unique of Walk upon Water
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails