George Henry Frederick Ulrich (1830–1900): pioneer mineralogist and geologist in Victoria

Abstract

George Henry Frederick Ulrich (1830–1900) was educated at the Clausthal Mining School in Germany and arrived in Victoria in 1853. After a short period on the goldfields, he was employed on the Mining Commission and then on the Geological Survey of Victoria until its closure in 1868. In 1870 he was appointed Curator and Lecturer at the newly established Industrial and Technological Museum of Victoria. In 1878 he was appointed inaugural Director of the Otago School of Mines, New Zealand, a position he held until his death in 1900. His legacy includes detailed original maps of central Victorian goldfields, the foundation of the state’s geological collections, and among the first accounts of Victorian geology published in German periodicals, until now little known. As the only scientist of his times in Victoria with the qualifications and expertise to accurately identify and properly describe minerals, he provided the first comprehensive accounts of Victorian mineralogy, including the identification of the first new mineral in Australia, which he named maldonite. His contribution to mineralogy is recognised by the species ulrichite. Ulrich was universally respected for his scientific achievements and highly regarded for his personal qualities.