JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY O F NEW SOUTH WALES Volume 141 Parts 3 and 4 (Nos 429–430) 2008 ISSN 0035-9173 PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY BUILDING H47 UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, NSW 2006 Issued December 2008 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES OFFICE BEARERS FOR 2007-2008 Patrons Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO Governor of New South Wales. President Mr J.R. Hardie, BSc Syd, FGS, MACE Vice Presidents Prof. J. Kelly, BSc Syd, PhD Reading, DSc NSW, FAIP, FInstP Mr C.M. Wilmot Hon. Secretary (Gen.) Mr B.R. Welch Hon. Secretary (Ed.) Prof. P.A. Williams, BA (Hons), PhD Macq. Hon. Treasurer Ms M. Haire BSc, Dip Ed. Hon. Librarian Ms C. van der Leeuw Councillors Mr A.J. Buttenshaw Mr J. Franklin Em. Prof. H. Hora Dr M. Lake, PhD Syd Ms Jill Rowling BE UTS, MSc Syd A/Prof. W.A. Sewell, MB, BS, BSc Syd, PhD Melb FRCPA Ms R. Stutchbury two vacancies Southern Highlands Rep. Mr C.M. Wilmot EDITORIAL BOARD Prof. P.A. Williams, BA (Hons), PhD Macq. Prof. J. Kelly, BSc Syd, PhD Reading, DSc NSW, FAIP, FInstP Dr M. Lake, PhD Syd Mr J. Franklin The Society originated in the year 1821 as the Philosophical Society of Australasia. Its main function is the promotion of Science by: publishing results of scientific investigations in its Journal and Proceedings; conducting monthly meetings; awarding prizes and medals; and by liason with other scientific societies. Special meetings are held for: the Pollock Memorial Lecture in Physics and Mathematics, the Liversidge Research Lecture in Chemistry, the Clarke Memorial Lecture in Geology, Zoology and Botany, and the Poggendorf Lecture in Agricultural Science. Membership is open to any person whose application is acceptable to the Society. Subscriptions for the Journal are also accepted. The Society welcomes, from members and non-members, manuscripts of research and review articles in all branches of science, art, literature and philosophy for publication in the Journal and Proceedings. Acknowledgements The Royal Society of New South Wales gratefully thanks the NSW State Government for their financial suppport of this publication. Copyright The Royal Society of New South Wales does not require authors to transfer their copyright. Authors are free to re-use their paper in any of their future printed work and can post a copy of the published paper on their own web site. Enquiries relating to copyright or reproduction of an article should be directed to the author. ISSN 0035-9173 Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 141, p. 1–31, 2008 ISSN 0035-9173/08/02001–31 $4.00/1 Some Unpublished Correspondence of the Rev. W.B. Clarke d.f. branagan and t.g. vallance Abstract: Four previously unpublished letters, with memoranda of Rev. W.B. Clarke to W.S. Macleay, written between 1842 and 1845 clarify the ideas of both about the mode of formation of coal and the age of the stratigraphical succession in the Sydney Basin. Clarke makes the first mention of his discovery of the Lake Macquarie fossil forest, the first identification of the zeolite stilbite in New South Wales and gives details of his study of the volcanic rocks of the Upper Hunter Valley. Keywords: Clarke, Macleay, coal formation, Sydney Basin, stilbite INTRODUCTION essentially self-contained, although, of course, almost no letter can stand alone, but depends When Dr Thomas G. Vallance died in 1993 a on the correspondents. Each letter has some considerable amount of his historical jottings importance in dealing with aspects of Clarke’s and memorabilia on the history of Australian geological work, as will be noted. science, and particularly geology, was passed The first and longest letter, which is ac- on to me (David Branagan) through his wife, companied by a long series of memoranda and Hilary Vallance. For various reasons, only now a labelled sketch fits between two letters from have I been able to delve, even tentatively, into MacLeay (28 June & 4 July 1842) to Clarke. this treasure house. The present note con- Both these MacLeay letters have been repro- cerns four letters of the Reverend W.B. Clarke duced in Moyal (2003), as letters Nos. 30 & (1798–1878), together with several additional 31 (Moyal 2003, vol. 1, pp. 112–120). Part of related memoranda, which Vallance somehow the earlier MacLeay letter was also quoted by acquired, written to William Sharp MacLeay Jervis (1944, pp. 428–429), in which there are (1792–1864), Clarke’s great friend, and sternest slight variations in the transcription from that critic, of Elizabeth Bay, Sydney. He transcribed by Moyal. The two MacLeay letters have been the letters in part, and researched some of re-transcribed by us herein as there are a few the historical and scientific problems which had significant, as well as less important, differences emerged on reading the letters. I have continued from Moyal’s transcription, based on our inter- the process. pretation of the handwriting, the addition of a The four letters were written as follows: few lines of postscript (with a sketch), and the Letter 1: 1 July 1842 (with additional mem- advantages of the internet in identifying some oranda 5 July 1842); Letter 2: 16 July 1842 doubtful names and historical events. Moyal (Figure 1); Letter 3: 28 May 1843, and Letter (2003) in her vol. 1, page 115 footnote 1, 4: 24 January 1845. Letters one and three were reported ‘Clarke’s reply to MacLeay’s previous written from ‘Paramatta’ [sic], then Clarke’s letter has not survived.’ This is the letter place of residence, the second from Petty’s which has now turned up, with the previously Hotel, Sydney, where Clarke often stayed when unreported memoranda and sketch. visiting Sydney in that period. The fourth While some written words of both Clarke letter was written at Muswellbrook in the upper and MacLeay are difficult or impossible to Hunter Valley. The letters, in Clarke’s hand, decipher, and a few words are lost through tears, are here transcribed, but are presented and blots etc. the general gist of the letters and discussed, not in order of date of writing. The memoranda can be readily determined. We reason for this change of order is that the three have based our interpretation of some words later letters are relatively straight-forward, and (mainly geological) on the geological literature 2 BRANAGAN AND VALLANCE which was familiar to both writers, and to which European framework, based largely on supposed they allude quite freely. In addition to mentions palaeontological evidence, which to Clarke’s of the work of e.g. Lyell (we use a readily mind, at the time, indicated that the New accessible work of later date), Murchison, Sedg- South Wales coals were considerably younger wick, De la Beche, Adolphe Brongniart we have than the coal deposits of Europe. Thus Clarke’s given attention to other French and German firmly-held attitude at this time was that the authors, such as Bonnard, Dufrénoy, Thirria Australian (essentially the New South Wales) and Humboldt, who were involved in sorting out coals were of Oolitic (i.e. Jurassic) age, whereas the stratigraphy and palaeontology of both the MacLeay, perhaps acting in part as ‘devil’s Palaeozoic and Mesozoic successions in Europe advocate’, kept pushing the coal age back down, in the 1820s–1830s. although not necessarily to the Carboniferous, Some allusions in the texts are now less read- the period of the major deposition of coal in the ily understood than they would have been in northern hemisphere. Clarke’s time, and are briefly discussed in foot- notes, with leads to more details in references, J.D. Dana (1813–1895), during his visit on such as to those researchers mentioned above. the Wilkes’ Expedition in 1839–40 had agreed For New South Wales locations mentioned in with Clarke that the NSW coals did not fit the letters see Figure 2. the European system, but he thought them The letters deal with aspects of Clarke’s not much younger than Carboniferous, probably studies during his early attempts to sort out Permian, although he was prepared to have the stratigraphy of the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic them as young as Triassic. However Clarke rocks of New South Wales. They show to a did not agree at the time. Dana’s thoughts, considerable extent how his European (and par- although available in his notes and correspon- ticularly English) geological background influ- dence, did not become publicly available until enced his Australian work, with his attempts to the publication of his work on the Geology of fit the Australian stratigraphy into the ‘known’ the Expedition (Dana 1849). Figure 1. Clarke letter to MacLeay, 16 July 1842 SOME UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF THE REV. W.B. CLARKE 3 The Australian coal argument, which was Moyal (2003). very important in the history of the develop- The Clarke Letters 2, 3 & 4 are now tran- ment of Australian geology has been thrashed scribed, followed, if appropriate, by a brief com- out by previous authors, particularly Val- ment. Necessary clarifications and additional lance (1981), but see also Organ (1990) and comments are placed in the footnotes. Figure 2. Map of localities in New South Wales mentioned in the Letters 4 BRANAGAN AND VALLANCE CLARKE LETTER 2 – TO W.S. MACLEAY See Figure 1 [Addressed to] W.S. Macleay Esq. Elizabeth Bay [Postmarked] General Post Office Sydney, July 18 1842 [Written at] Petty’s Hotel1 Saturday [July 16, 1842] My dear Sir, The weather does not allow me to see you: but I have a box here, containing impressions of ferns etc.