Expedition to the Great Barrier Reef 1928-1929 - Part 5

Significance of the Great Barrier Reef Expedition
In their 2002 publication The Great Barrier Reef: history, science, heritage, James Bowen and Margarita Bowen described the 1928 expedition to the Great Barrier Reef as: “the greatest marine science venture on a global scale since the Challenger oceanographic expedition more than fifty years earlier.”^[1]  C.M. Yonge’s pioneering work, particularly on coral physiology, is considered to this day to be an outstanding contribution to coral science, and the coral reef research conducted under his leadership is still considered as basic reference material. T.A. Stephenson’s work with Tandy, Spender, Fraser, Manton and wife Anne Stephenson, on the structure and ecology of the reefs at Low Isles, resulted in a detailed ecological survey on a previously unseen scale. In collaboration with his wife Anne, Stephenson also made a major contribution to the then current state of knowledge of growth and asexual reproduction of corals.^[2]

Low Isles, from a survey by M.A. Spender assisted by Mrs T.A. Stephenson and E.C. Marchant, 1929. Source: Great Barrier Reef Expedition 1928-1929 Scientific Reports, Volume III, No. 2

The full extent of the expedition’s scientific findings were presented in seven volumes of reports and in a plethora of subsequent journal articles and books. The Scientific Reports of the Great Barrier Reef Expedition, 1928-1929 were published by the Natural History Division of the British Museum between 1930 and 1968. The majority of the journal articles were published in the decade following the expedition, however, articles reflecting on the expedition continued to appear in scientific journals until the 1980s. As well as contributing to and editing the first six volumes of the scientific reports, Yonge also wrote a popular account of the expedition that was published in 1930. A Year on the Great Barrier Reef enjoyed a wide readership, thanks to Yonge’s exceptional ability to write in such a way that satisfied both general and scientific readers.

C.M. Yonge’s book sparked a worldwide obsession with the reef in both tourists and scientists alike. The effects of this were two-fold. On the one hand, the public’s newfound awareness of the Great Barrier Reef’s wonders opened up the potential for exploitation of its resources as tourists flocked to visit the reef, upsetting its delicate ecological equilibrium. However, the book also had the effect of jolting others into an awareness of the need to work towards conserving the reef and its resources for future generations.

Sheina Marshall (centre) and C.M. Yonge (right), cleaning coral specimens, Great Barrier Reef Expedition, 1928-1929. Photo: National Library of Australia.

The success of the expedition prompted the Queensland government to commit to funding further research, and to that end, decided to use the existing expedition buildings at Low Isles to found the first Australian research station on the reef. Frank Moorhouse, who had been part of Yonge’s expedition, was appointed in a part-time capacity to manage the station. Unfortunately this venture was short-lived. In March 1934 a cyclone swept over Low Isles, destroying the laboratory and huts.^[3]

The Women of the Expedition
Initially, the British press attempted to trivialise the role of the women in the expedition, particularly Yonge’s “charming young wife”, Mattie, who was reported to be mostly concerned with what clothing she would take to Low Isles.^[4] The Australian press, for its part, viewed the involvement of so many women in such an undertaking as something of a novelty, although one journalist, Charles Barrett, wrote more honestly about the women of the expedition. Far from playing a purely decorative, or even domestic, role - the women of the expedition were highly accomplished in their respective fields, and did not shy away from any of the hard work, either scientific or practical. Zoologist Sheina Marshall was apparently an excellent woodworker, and took to building wooden stools with a plane and hammer to supplement the meagre furniture at the research station. Barrett wrote that even out on the reef, the women “played their part” and were “keen on doing thoroughly the tasks allotted to them.”^[5] Perhaps in an effort to circumvent any frivolous comments about them, one of the women told Barrett, “We are not ornamental… We have come here to work.”^[6]

Gwen Russell standing next to a giant clam, Great Barrier Expedition, 1928. Photo: Sir C.M. Yonge Collection, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

Additionally, those women of the expedition who were not scientists themselves, were genuine collaborators on their husbands’ work, and contributed much more than might at first be assumed. This was particularly true of Anne Stephenson, who is credited as co-author with her husband T.A. Stephenson on two articles resulting from the research at Low Isles (and on another twelve articles with him on subsequent research in South Africa and North America). Charles Barrett noted that:

“Mrs Stephenson is out on the reef assisting her husband for hours every day, and in the lab, is seen poring over coral reef charts or consulting learned tomes of some branch of marine zoology.” ^[7]

Anne Stephenson on the reef, Great Barrier Reef Expedition, 1928. Photo: Sir C.M. Yonge Collection, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

Buoyed by the involvement of their British counterparts, several Australian women seized the opportunity to visit Low Isles during the course of the expedition. Dr Gwynneth Buchanan, a lecturer in zoology at Melbourne University made a short visit, and botanist Mary Glynne made a brief survey of the Low Isles in April 1929.^[8]  Freda Bage, biologist and Principal of the Women’s College at the University of Queensland (and the only female member of the Great Barrier Reef Committee), and Miss H.F. Todd, assistant secretary of the latter committee, also visited briefly.^[9] Mrs A.C. Wishart, of Brisbane, whose husband was the skipper of the research vessel Luana, took the opportunity to visit Low Isles while her husband worked there.

The Great Barrier Reef Expedition was ahead of its time for its inclusion of so many women in the research party. It proved to be a catalyst for greater involvement of women in scientific research in Australia.


Trisha Fielding, Special Collections Library Officer
James Cook University Library

If you missed earlier posts in this series - you can catch up here

* Read more about the Sir C.M. Yonge Collection
** Browse the titles in the Sir C.M. Yonge Collection

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^[1] Bowen, J. and Bowen, M., The Great Barrier Reef: History, Science, Heritage, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 2002, p. 281.
^[2] Yonge, C.M. ‘Thomas Alan Stephenson, 1898-1961’, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, Vol. 8 (Nov. 1962), p. 141.
^[3] Courier Mail, 7 March 1934, p. 13.
^[4] Observer (Adelaide), 30 June 1928, p. 17.
^[5] Barrett, Charles, ‘Great Barrier Reef: Seeking Coral Secrets’, Western Mail (Perth) 16 August 1928, p. 14.
^[6] Ibid.
^[7] Ibid.
^[8] McCalman, Iain, The Reef: a passionate history, Viking, Melbourne, 2013, p. 271.
^[9] Yonge, C.M., The Great Barrier Reef Expedition, 1928-1929, Reports of the Great Barrier Reef Committee, Vol. 3, 1931, p. 4.