Sir James Hector

item details

NameSir James Hector

ProductionJames Wrigglesworth; photography studio; 1868-1874; Wellington

Classificationcartes-de-visite, albumen prints, studio portraits, group portraits

Materialssilver, albumen, printing-out paper, mounting board

Materials Summaryphotograph, carte-de-viste

Techniquesalbumen process, printing-out, printing-out

DimensionsSecondary support: 63mm (width), 104mm (height)

Registration NumberO.042733

Credit linePurchased 2001 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds

Overview

This photograph shows James Hector (1834-1907) - geologist, explorer and science administrator - aged about thirty-four. It was taken around the time he was appointed director of both the Geological Survey and the Colonial Museum (Te Papa's predecessors).

James Hector
Hector was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1856 he graduated in medicine from the University of Edinburgh, where he also studied botany, zoology and geology. For three years he worked as a surgeon and geologist on an expedition of western Canada before arriving in New Zealand in 1861.

New Zealand surveyor
Hector's first position in New Zealand was as director of Otago's Geological Survey. Here he brought together a group of scientists to survey other natural resources in the province. His early fieldwork in Otago included a pioneering double crossing between Milford Sound and Dunedin in 1863. This work attracted the attention of the central government, which took up Hector's idea of linking the geological survey to a scientific museum and laboratory in 1865.

Important influence
At various times Hector was responsible for the New Zealand Institute, the Meteorological Department, the Colonial Observatory, the Wellington Time-Ball Observatory, the Botanic Garden of Wellington, and was the custodian of the standard weights and measures and the Patent Office library.

An extremely influential figure in colonial science, Hector received many honours in his life time, including a knighthood in 1887.