British Museum (Natural History): Department of Zoology: Keeper's Great Barrier Reef...

This series consists of the Keeper of Zoology's files relating to the Great Barrier Reef Expedition committees in Australia and England, the expedition itself, the collections and the publication of results.

Series held at The Natural History Museum are catalogued more fully in its online catalogue (reference DF ZOO/213/112). Online descriptions of some individual records can also be viewed on Discovery, see DF 214.

Sir Maurice Yonge's papers are held in the General Library of The Natural History Museum.

Topics

Australia and Pacific

Museums and galleries

A lecture by Professor H C Richards to the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (Queensland) in 1922 was the impetus which led to the setting up of the Great Barrier Reef Committee (Australia). Its task was to investigate the origin, growth and natural resources of the Reef, and reports on physiographical and geological topics were published in 1925 and 1928. As there were few marine biologists in Australia at the time, the Committee approached Professor J Stanley Gardiner of the University of Cambridge for help, and as a result the Great Barrier Reef Committee (England) was set up in 1927 to mount a biological expedition. Funds were obtained from various sources including the Empire Marketing Board and the Australian Government. Charles Maurice Yonge (1899-1986) was selected as leader of the expedition, which worked on the reef from July 1928 to July 1929. The British Museum (Natural History) became the home of the principal collections, and took responsibility for editing and publishing the scientific reports.