OK, Dr. C and I have found a ton of new information regarding
GFB, his work, and his Tasmanian sojourn. Neither of us has had any time
to process this info or really interpret it. I'm passing it along in it's raw
form to you guys so you can get started sifting through it:
I emailed Brett Martin--the Tasmanian researcher/writer that
I have been corresponding with to ask about GFB's education. Here's a copy of
our exchange:
Me: I am deviling deeper into the history of George
Beardsley and I was wondering if you could shed light on a question I've been
pondering. I've been reading the book you recommending, The Peaks of Lyell, and
I've been wondering if George had any formal training as a chemist. Do you have
any idea how the men received their training in that day? Was it through
schooling, or more "on the job"?
Mr Martin: I've not come across any reference to George having
formal qualifications, however the circumstantial evidence is strong. He was
instrumental in setting up the smelter at Zeehan before coming to Mt Lyell
Company as Metallurgist, then working under Sticht as Head Assayer. I
doubt that sort of expertise can be learned on the job, though it's not
impossible. He was also instrumental in setting up the School of Mining in
Zeehan and a similar school in Queenstown, all of which points to a respect for
education and qualifications. He may have gained his education in a similar
school in the US or after he came to Australia. I'll see if I can find
some reference in the archives.
You should run Beardsley's name through that Australian
newspaper archive,
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ to
see if we can get any more hits.
This group has the difficult task of putting together the
history of GFB's work as we find the resources, but I'm sure all of us together
can figure it out.
Be sure to add some of this to your storyboard, we can mount
any of these newspapers on the wall.
