Henry Chamberlain Russell

Henry Chamberlain Russell CMG FRS (17 March 1836 – 22 February 1907) was an Australian astronomer and meteorologist.

On the death of Smalley on 11 July 1870[3] Russell became government astronomer a salary of £555[2] and held the position for 35 years.

Russell immediately began reorganising and refurnishing the building, which he succeeded in getting considerably enlarged during the next seven years.

With Robert L. J. Ellery, Russell organised an expedition to observe a total eclipse of the sun to Cape Sidmouth in 1871.

[1] Russell began to develop the meteorological side of his work, in 1877 he published a substantial volume, Climate of New South Wales: Descriptive, Historical and Tabular.

The long series of Meteorological Observations made at the Government Observatory, Sydney, published under Russell's direction contain an enormous mass of information relating to the climate of New South Wales.

In 1888 he was elected president of the newly formed Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science and in 1891 became vice-chancellor of the university of Sydney, but resigned within a year on account of the pressure of his other duties.

The great value of Russell's efforts lies in the mass of tabulated work done by him or under his direction in astronomy and especially meteorology, which has been a mine of information for all workers in the subjects.