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

F. Danvers Power
Born1861
Died1955
OccupationGeologist

History

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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, the Royal School of Mines, London, and the Mining Academy, Clausthal, Germany.[1]

In 1884 he migrated to Australia, settling in Melbourne. He worked in an assay laboratory in Bethanga until 1887,[2]

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.[3]

He was appointed consulting engineer to tho Overflow Company in 1897.[4]

In 1902 he was appointed lecturer in mining at Sydney University, which he held until 1935.[5]

Power acted as manager of the Great Cobar mine in 1913 during the four months Bellinger was away on leave.[6]

Memberships

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Bibliography

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  • 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

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  • 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 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 and Banaba, where phosphate rock was being mined) he donated to the Australian Museum.

Family

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

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

References

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  1. ^ Clausthal was also home of German-Australian geologists H. W. F. Kayser and G. H. F. Ulrich
  2. ^ "Board of Advice Election". Wodonga And Towong Sentinel. No. 79. Victoria, Australia. 25 February 1887. p. 2. Retrieved 28 December 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "The Platinum Question". The Colac Herald. Vol. XXII, no. 2141. Victoria, Australia. 20 March 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 28 December 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Bon Voyage". The Cobar Herald. Vol. 36, no. 1. New South Wales, Australia. 7 January 1913. p. 2. Retrieved 27 December 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Frederick Danvers Power". Australian Museum. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  6. ^ "Bon Voyage". The Cobar Herald. Vol. 36, no. 1. New South Wales, Australia. 7 January 1913. p. 2. Retrieved 27 December 2018 – via National Library of Australia.