| Activity | After moving away from England in 1881 because of an asthma problem, Charles Hedley tried several kinds of work in New Zealand and Australia before getting himself involved in natural history studies at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane. He subsequently moved over to the Australian Museum in Sydney, where he slowly worked his way up the chain of command. Hedley's main speciality was the taxonomy of molluscs, and he spent as much time in the field collecting specimens as a variety of ailments permitted. As one obituary noted, "He studied and wrote with equal ability and enthusiasm on the Mollusca, whether from the anatomical, the conchological, or the systematic standpoint; he was equally an authority on beach ecology, on the rules of nomenclature, and on the uses of shells by native tribes." This interest extended to biogeographical considerations as well, where Hedley attempted to explain distribution patterns of South Pacific molluscs on the basis of his "Melanesian Plateau" model, hypothesizing (earlier on) agency through the past existence of a now-sunken continent, or (later on) various extensions of Antarctica to the same effect.
In 1881 he tried sheep farming in New Zealand. In 1882 he moved to Queensland, Australia and 1882 - 1888 he tried oyster and fruit farming. In 1888 he began volunteering at the Queensland Museum, Brisbane. and in 1889 he joined the permanent staff. He also became the honorary secretary of the Royal Society of Queensland. In 1891 he joined the staff of the Australian Museum in Sydney. In 1896 he participated in the Royal Society's Atoll reef boring expedition and he was promoted to Conchologist at the Australian Museum. In 1908 he is appointed assistant curator at the Museum. In 1912 he undertook work in England, France, Switzerland and USA. In 1916 he received the David Syme prize for his scientific work in Australia. In 1920 he is promoted to principal keeper of collections at the Museum. He resigned from the museum in 1925 and becomes scientific director of the Great Barrier Reef Investigation Committee and receives the Royal Society of New South Wales' Clarke Memorial Medal. |