Frederick Danvers Power (1861–1955) was an Australian academic, a lecturer in

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

and

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sci ...

History

Power was born in England, a son of Samuel Browning Power (1824–1892), a shipowner of London, and his wife Rebecca Danvers (1835–1902). He was educated at

Malvern College Malvern College is an independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school in the British sense of the term and is a member of the Rugby Group and of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' ...

, the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

, London, and the Mining Academy,

Clausthal Clausthal-Zellerfeld is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the southwestern part of the Harz mountains. Its population is approximately 15,000. The City is the location of the Clausthal University of Technology. The health resort ...

, Germany. In 1884 he migrated to Australia, settling in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

. He worked in an assay laboratory in

Bethanga Bethanga is a town in north-eastern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia in the Shire of Towong Local government in Australia, local government area, from the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2016 Australian census, 2016 census, Bethanga ...

until 1887, While an assayer for the Union Bank, he was in 1890 a key witness in the trial of Robert J. W. Pound, accused of the theft of some £5,000 worth of platinum from the Otway Ranges Company. He was appointed consulting engineer to tho Overflow Company in 1897. In 1902 he was appointed lecturer in mining at

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, which he held until 1935. Power acted as manager of the Great Cobar mine in 1913 during the four months Bellinger was away on leave.

Memberships

*He was a longtime member of

Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) provides services to professionals engaged in all facets of the global minerals sector and is based in Carlton, Victoria, Australia. History The Institute had its genesis in 1893 with ...

, and president 1897, 1904. *Fellow of the

Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

*Member of the

American Institute of Mining Engineers The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) is a professional association for mining and metallurgy, with over 145,000 members. It was founded in 1871 by 22 mining engineers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Uni ...

*Member of the

Institute of Mining and Metallurgy The Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (IMM) was a British research institution, founded in 1892. Members of the Institution used the post-nominals MIMM. In 2002, it merged with The Institute of Materials (IOM) to form the Institute of Materials ...

in London

Bibliography

*''The Pambula gold-deposits'' (1893) *''A glossary of terms used in mining geology'' (1895) *''Receptacles for valuable mineral deposits'' AIMM (1897) *''Mine management'' Sydney University Press (1906) *''Coalfields and Collieries of Australia'' (1912) *''Pocketbook for Miners and Metallurgists'' (1914)

Other interests

*He formed his own publishing company Rhincru Press and published various technical and non-fiction books *Power was a Scout Leader, and Assistant Commissioner; he wrote the ''Australian Boy Scouts Handbook'' *He was an excellent photographer and many of his

glass plate Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a capture medium in photography, and were still used in some communities up until the late 20th century. The light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was coated on a glass plate, typically thi ...

Sydney street scenes are held in public collections. *He was an inveterate world traveller; many of the artefacts he picked up (especially from islands such as

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in K ...

and

Banaba BanabaThe correct spelling and etymology in Gilbertese should be ''Bwanaba'' but the Constitution of Kiribati writes Banaba. Because of the spelling in English or French, the name was very often written Paanapa or Paanopa, as it was in 1901 A ...

, where phosphate rock was being mined) he donated to the

Australian Museum The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest museum in Australia,Design 5, 2016, p.1 and the fifth oldest natural history museum in th ...

Family

Power married Muriel Faucett Blain (29 Aug 1876 – 22 Jan 1951) on 28 November 1901 among their children were: *

Charles Danvers Power Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

(10 March 1903 – 7 August 1995) *Robert Danvers "Bob" Power (21 April 1907 – 27 June 1997)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Power, Frederick 1861 births 1955 deaths Academic staff of the University of Sydney Australian geologists Australian metallurgists