Douglas Mawson

On March 31, 1914, Mawson married Francisca Adriana (Paquita) Delprat. The ceremony took place in the Holy Trinity Church of England, Balaclava, Victoria. The couple had two daughters, Patricia and Jessica.

Mawson retired from University of Adelaide in 1952. However, he continued editing the data collected during the Australian Antarctic Expedition. The work was ultimately finished by his daughter Patricia after his death and published in 1975.

Mawson died of cerebral hemorrhage on October 14, 1958 at his home in Brighton. He was buried at the historic cemetery of Saint Jude's Anglican Church.

Douglas Mawson was born on May 5, 1882, in Shipley, West Yorkshire, England. His father, Robert Mawson, was a cloth merchant from a farming background. His mother’s name was Margaret Ann née Moore.

In 1884, when Douglas was two years old, the family migrated to Australia and settled at Rooty Hill, now a suburb of Sydney. He began his education at a local school, but later shifted to Fort Street Model School in Sydney, graduating from there in 1899.

In the same year, he entered University of Sydney. Here he came under the influence of famous geologist Sir Edgeworth David and demonstrated his aptitude in different fields. Finally he passed out from there in 1902 with a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering.

Immediately after passing out, Mawson took up the job of a junior demonstrator in chemistry. But in 1903, he took up six months leave to join a scientific expedition to New Hebrides. His report, titled ‘The Geology of New Hebrides’ was one of the first important works on the geology of entire Melanesia.

In 1905, he was appointed a lecturer of mineralogy and petrology (geology) at the University of Adelaide. Sometime now, he also began field investigations in the Broken Hill mining area of west-central New South Wales. This work earned him doctorate in science in 1909.

However, before he could complete his doctoral work, he was invited to join Nimrod Expedition to Antarctica under the leadership of Ernest Shackleton as a physicist and surveyor. He and his mentor Edgeworth David were the only Australians to join the team.

In February 1908, the team arrived at Cape Royds at Antarctica. In March, Douglas Mawson along with Alistair Mackay, Edgeworth David, Jameson Adams and Eric Marshal climbed Mount Erebus for the first time.

Next on October 5, 1908, Mawson and Mackay set out for the South Magnetic Pole under the leadership of David. The team reached their destination on January 17, 1909 after a long and difficult trek and immediately took possession of the area in the name of British King.

Mawson is best known for his expeditions to Antarctica. They enabled Australia to claim some 2,500,000 square miles of that continent. These expeditions also collected huge amount of scientific data, which helped to carry on further investigation.

Mawson also made major contributions to Australian geology. In later years, he worked on the 'Adelaide System' of Precambrian rocks in the Flinders Ranges and identified its two groups. His findings have been documented in his report ‘Geological investigations in the Broken Hill area’.

Mawson also discovered a new mineral and named it Davidite after his mentor Professor TW Edgeworth David.