Charles Francis Laseron (6 December 1887 – 27 June 1959) was an American-born Australian

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and

malacologist Malacology, from Ancient Greek μαλακός (''malakós''), meaning "soft", and λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (molluscs or mollusks), the second-largest ...

Early life and education

Laseron was born on 6 December 1887 at

Manitowoc, Wisconsin Manitowoc ( ) is a city in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2020 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,626. History Purporte ...

, United States of America, to English parents the Reverend David Laseron, and his wife Frances, née Bradley. After relocating temporarily to London in 1888, the family migrated to Australia in January 1891. In 1892 his father was accidentally shot, causing lasting health problems for Rev. Laseron who resigned his post in Sydney three years later and then moved his family to

Lithgow, New South Wales Lithgow is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia and is the administrative centre of the City of Lithgow local government area. It is located in a mountain valley named Lithgow's Valley by John Oxley in honour of W ...

where he was given charge of the parish. Charles attended

St Andrew's Cathedral School St Andrew's Cathedral School is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Mixed-sex education, co-educational comprehensive education, comprehensive and specialist Primary school, primary and Seconda ...

as scholar and chorister and later studied at

Sydney Technical College The Sydney Technical College, now part of TAFE NSW, is a technical school established in 1878, that superseded the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. The college is one of Australia's oldest technical education institutions. History The Sydney M ...

where he was awarded the diploma in geology. He was employed by the Technological Museum in July 1906 and published a series of papers.

Australian Antarctic Expedition

He was a member of the

Australasian Antarctic Expedition The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was a 1911–1914 expedition headed by Douglas Mawson that explored the largely uncharted Antarctic coast due south of Australia. Mawson had been inspired to lead his own venture by his experiences on Ernest ...

under (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 ...

. He travelled with

Frank Hurley James Francis "Frank" Hurley (15 October 1885 – 16 January 1962) was an Australian photographer and adventurer. He participated in a number of expeditions to Antarctica and served as an official photographer with Australian forces durin ...

, Bob Bage, Eric Webb, Herbert Murphy and John Hunter. The group travelled by sledge, departing their base camp on 10 November 1912. Murphy, Hunter and Laseron were the support party for Hurley, Bage and Webb, and turned back on 22 November 1912 after setting up a supply depot.

War service

Following the outbreak of World War I, Laseron enlisted in the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main Expeditionary warfare, expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following United Kingdom of Great Bri ...

on 9 September 1914. He sailed from Melbourne in December 1914 on the ''SS Ulysses''.Charles Francis Laseron personal diary (transcript)
/ref> Laseron served with the 13th Battalion in the Gallipoli Campaign, being wounded on 27 April 1915 at Anzac Cove. After spending three months in hospital in England he was discharged as medically unfit.

Later life

Laseron returned to work at the museum after his discharge, working in the geology department and later in applied art. He campaigned unsuccessfully for the establishment of a formal collection, and resigned in 1929 to set up his own business as an antique-dealer and auctioneer. He served again during World War II as a map reading instructor but was discharged as medically unfit due to illness in 1944. Laseron died on 27 June 1959 in

Concord Repatriation General Hospital Concord Repatriation General Hospital (abbreviated CRGH), commonly referred to as Concord Hospital, is a district general hospital in Sydney, Australia, on Hospital Road in Concord. It is a teaching hospital of Sydney Medical School at the Un ...

. He was survived by his wife Mary, who he had married on 22 March 1919, and their children.

Works

* ''An Autobiography'', Sydney, 1904 * ''From Australia to the Dardanelles'', 1916 * ''South with Mawson'', 1947 * ''The Face of Australia'', 1953 * ''Ancient Australia'', 1954

References

External links

Laseron diary, December 23, 1914 – April 29, 1915 / Charles Francis Laseron
held at State Library of New South Wales, accessed 23 November 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Laseron, Charles Francis 1887 births 1959 deaths American emigrants to Australia Australasian Antarctic Expedition Australian auctioneers Australian malacologists Australian military personnel of World War I Conchologists American explorers of Antarctica People from Manitowoc, Wisconsin 20th-century Australian zoologists 20th-century Australian naturalists Australian explorers of Antarctica