Helen Page, Peachester History Committee
Guest speaker at BIHS meeting November 2016
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| Lynne Hooper (centre) with Jan (left) and Helen of Peachester History Committee Photo: Lynne Hooper |
Through a fascinating PowerPoint presentation filled
with photos and documents that had been given to the Peachester History
Committee by Inigo Jones’ family, Helen gave us an incredible insight into the
life and work of Inigo Jones.
Inigo Owen Jones (1872-1954), meteorologist, was born
at Croydon, Surrey, England, son of Owen Jones, civil engineer, and his wife
Emilie Susanne, née Bernoulli, of a famous scientific family. Emilie's mother
Dorothy Inigo-Jones was descended from the architect Inigo Jones (1573-1652).
In 1874 his parents migrated to Queensland. In
1888 the colonial meteorologist Clement Wragge persuaded Inigo to serve a
cadetship in his office rather than attend the University of Sydney. Inigo
began to develop a special interest in long-range forecasting on the basis of
sunspots from that time.
In 1892 his parents bought a farm about 97 km north of
Brisbane and named it Crohamhurst after a property near Inigo's birthplace.
Inigo joined them there and on 2 February 1893 recorded an Australian record
for one day's rainfall of 37.714 inches (958 mm). For the next thirty years he
lived in relative obscurity, helping his father with pioneering work on the
farm and continuing meteorological research as a hobby stimulated by first-hand
experience of the farmer's dependence on weather forecasts.
In 1923 Inigo successfully predicted the end of a dry
spell and the resulting press publicity created demands for his forecasts.
Urged on by scientific and other friends, he became a full-time forecaster.
From 1929 he wrote forecasts for many Australian newspapers.
The observatory building at Crohamhurst, was opened on
13 August 1935 and Inigo divided his time between work on the farm and work in
the observatory. In 1942 Sydney grazing interests provided further support
through the Long-Range Weather Forecasting Trust.
An accomplished artist and musician, Inigo married
Marion Emma Comrie on 11 January 1905 at Crohamhurst.
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| Peachester Cemetery Photo: Lynne Hooper |
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| Peachester Cemetery Photo: Lynne Hooper |
Inigo Jones died at Crohamhurst on 14 November 1954 and was buried in the nearby Peachester cemetery.
BIHS members visit to Peachester Hall
18 November 2016
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| BIHS group at Peachester Hall, 18 Nov 2016 Photo: Lynne Hooper |
A group of BIHS members went on Friday, 18 November 2016 to Peachester and, after a cuppa and a
talk, the Peachester Historical Committee took our group on a tour of the historical Peachester Cemetery.
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| Helen and BIHS group at Peachester Hall, 18 Nov 2016 Photo: Lynne Hooper |
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| BIHS group at Peachester Hall, 18 Nov 2016 Photo: Lynne Hooper |
BIHS members visit to Bankfoot House
18 November 2016
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| Bankfoot House, 18 Nov 2016 Photo: Lynne Hooper |
The group then drove to Bankfoot House, at the
Glass House Mountains, where after a presentation by Ron Gillinder they explored
Bankfoot House in the company of the Friends of Bankfoot House.
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| Ron's talk to BIHS group at Bankfoot House Photo: Lynne Hooper |
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| Ron's talk to BIHS group at Bankfoot House Photo: Lynne Hooper |
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