War Service and Career and Legacy of Cecil Morton MC ACTSM, the Geological Survey of Queensland’s first economic geologist Ian Withnall Early life Cecil Charles Morton was born on 10 July 1891 the son of Charles Robert Morton and Sarah Sophia (nee Mansford) in Toowoomba Queensland. Cecil had 5 siblings, Florence Emma (born 1893), Herbert Palmer (born 1895), Edith Selma and Arthur John (twins born 1901) and Frank Charles (born 1908). Charles Morton was a primary school teacher, his first posting as Head Teacher being to Maytown State School on the Palmer River goldfield in 1891, and it was there that Cecil started school. From 1898 to 1904, the family was resident in Rosevale, a dairy-farming district southwest of Ipswich. Charles was both Head Teacher and Postmaster (Queensland Post Office Directories 1898 to 1905). Cecil completed his primary schooling at Rosevale and won a scholarship to Toowoomba Grammar School for his secondary education. Until 1912, when State-run high schools were established, the only opportunity for secondary education in Queensland was provided by the grammar schools or church-run schools, and unless parents were wealthy, access to such institutions depended on the award of such scholarships. In 1907 the scholarship amounted to £46/4/- per annum (Jennifer Fordyce, Toowoomba Grammar School, personal communication). Cecil boarded with his grandparents, attending the school as a ‘day boy’. At Toowoomba Grammar, Cecil excelled academically and in athletics and rugby, being Head of the School and Dux of the School in his final year in 1908. He was also in the Army cadets, rising to the rank of Sergeant. Cecil was awarded an open scholarship to gain Tertiary qualifications in a field of his choice. He considered studying geology at the University of Sydney (C. Sandercoe, personal communication) but instead opted to study mining engineering at the Charters Towers School of Mines. Coal mining had been active in the Rosewood–Walloon area from the 1870s and a new mine opened at Rosewood in 1904. Along with his early childhood on the Palmer River goldfield, this possibly influenced Cecil’s decision to train as a mining engineer. It could also have been reinforced by his father’s transfer to Jones Hill State School near Gympie in 1905, the year after Cecil started at Toowoomba Grammar. Gympie was still a flourishing gold-mining centre. Cecil’s completion of his secondary schooling coincided with a decision in 1908 by the Queensland Government to approve a system of scholarships and bursaries for study at the Charters Towers School of Mines. The scholarships were to be awarded on the results of the Senior Public Examination (then set by the University of Sydney), and were tenable for three years, designed “to attract some of the well-educated Queensland youths who would otherwise go to the universities in the Southern States and their trained services probably become eventually lost to their native State” (ARDM for 1907, p161). Bursaries were also to be awarded on the results of each year’s mining and metallurgical courses at the School of Mines.
The first scholarships (or Exhibitions as they were termed) were introduced at the end of 1908 and awarded to Cecil Morton and TR Pearce. Owing to the short notice given to potential candidates at the secondary schools throughout the State, they were the only applicants. However, the awards, which consisted of £50 per annum and remission of fees, were not misplaced, because the Director was able to report at the end of 1909, that Pearce had received Honours in all subjects and Morton in all but one (ARDM for 1909, p166). Both men continued to achieve good results through their courses (The Queenslander, 1910). A noteworthy student at the School when Morton arrived was Oliver H Woodward — best known for his involvement with the Australian Tunnelling Corps during World War 1, and the blowing up of Hill 60 on the Messines Ridge (Finlayson, 2010). When Morton arrived, Woodward had already completed his mining associateship, but having attained honours for all subjects throughout the course, was awarded a bursary to stay on to complete a metallurgical associateship. As a result, he and Morton took several subjects together. Morton completed his studies at the School of Mines with high distinction at the end of 1911, being awarded the Browne Medal for both the Mining Associateship and Metallurgy Early career Both Morton and Pearce gained positions at the tin-mining centre of Irvinebank in north Queensland, where Woodward was also working. Pearce, however, left soon afterwards to take up a position as field assistant at the Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ). Morton also worked in the Chillagoe area in 1912, before moving to Mount Perry west of Maryborough, where he was employed as a mining surveyor and assayer in 1913 (Australia Electoral Rolls 1913, Queensland Division of Wide Bay, Subdivision of Mount Perry). In 1914, Morton joined the Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ) as a Field Assistant (ARDM for 1914), his appointment being on the 12 March, the same day that Leslie Blake was readmitted to the service as a field assistant, after being away on Macquarie Island for the previous two years as part of Mawson’s Antarctic expedition (see Bateman et al, this issue). Morton replaced Pearce, his former classmate, who had resigned as senior field assistant the previous month. Morton and Blake joined WH Bryan, who had been appointed to GSQ as a temporary field assistant the previous December, after being one of the first graduates in geology from the University of Queensland (see Bryan et al, this issue). Blake had no formal geological training beyond secondary school (but was by now very experienced in topographic and geological mapping). However, Pearce, Morton and Bryan had formal professional training, so the seemingly lowly title of Field Assistant seems a little incongruous. It was possibly an attempt by Benjamin Dunstan, the Government Geologist, to circumvent restrictions by the Public Service on employing more geologists. Dunstan had fought a frustrating battle for more than 10 years to build up the GSQ into an efficient organisation able to meet the demands placed on it by the Government, prospectors and miners, as well as to increase the understanding of the State’s geology and mineral resources. He may have hoped to achieve his vision by training the young assistants and passing on his experience and that of geologists L.C. Ball and W.E. Cameron so that when circumstances allowed, he could appoint them as geologists. They were certainly given a large level of
responsibility. In any case, through this tactic, the staff of the GSQ was now at its highest since the organisation was established. The staff in 1914 was as follows: Benjamin Dunstan (Government Geologist) Assistant Government Geologists Lionel C Ball Walter E Cameron E Cecil Saint-Smith John H Reid Field assistants Leslie R Blake Cecil C Morton Walter H Bryan Alexander C Reid R Graff Office Assistants Russell Dixon (Indexer) Mr J Smith (Museum Curator) Mr Byrne (Librarian and Correspondence) Mr Sythers On joining the GSQ, Morton was immediately assigned to assist JH Reid, the newly appointed Assistant Government Geologist, on a survey of the Charters Towers goldfield, with which he was obviously already quite familiar. The aims were to carry out a detailed survey of the geology of an area of approximately 90 square kilometres centred on the City of Charters Towers, followed by an underground survey of the chief mines within the city area for the purpose of studying the genetic relations of the ore-shoots and possible extension of these shoots. The field work was started at the beginning of April 1914, and, except for several short breaks, took until May the following year. During this time, Morton also undertook to finish the topographic survey of a small area left uncompleted when the topographic surveyor was recalled to Brisbane. Because of the complexity of the geology, the surface mapping was not completed until the end of January 1915, after which an underground survey and inspection of mines was carried out. All working mines and, where possible, some of the non-working mines, were included. As a result of the work, Reid noted that the surface mapping showed that most of the richer reefs appeared to be associated with an abundance of small mafic dykes that intruded the granite host rocks. The work of Reid and Morton represented virtually the last opportunity of recording information underground in the main Charters Towers area, because in 1917, bailing ceased in the main group of workings, and they began to flood. In mid-May 1915, Reid and Morton returned to Brisbane to commence writing up their report, which was finally published in 1917, with the map being published separately in 1918 (Reid, 1917, 1918). The work would have been an important step in shaping Morton’s career as an economic geologist rather than a mining and metallurgical engineer. However, his geological career would have to wait.
War service While Reid and Morton were toiling in the field at Charters Towers, events on the other side of the world overturned Dunstan’s plans for the GSQ. It must have been with dismay, that he watched war’s grasping hand take all the younger members of his staff one by one. AC Reid took war leave from 28 August 1914, WH Bryan resigned on 31 May 1915, and both Morton and Blake took leave from 28 July and 31 August respectively. Even JH Reid, who at 32 was considerably older than the field assistants, enlisted in 1917. Only Morton and JH Reid were to return to GSQ after the war, AC Reid and Blake being killed, and WH Bryan pursuing an academic career at the University of Queensland. The five GSQ staff who enlisted were all assigned to the artillery. This may have been more than a coincidence, since it may have been recognised that they had surveying skills that were needed in the artillery. Subsequently, a few geologists were employed for their geological expertise in 1916 in the Australian Tunnelling Corps (Branagan, 2004; Finlayson, 2010; see also Passmore, this issue). These included Edgeworth David, Clive Loftus-Hills, Stanley Burrell Hunter (probably better described as a mining engineer, although he had worked for the Geological Survey of Victoria as a geologist), Carl Honman (from the Geological Survey of Western Australia and later part of the AGGSNA survey in the 1930s) and Leonard Wrathall (a petroleum geologist). Others in the Tunnelling Corps, who enlisted as mining engineers, may have worked as geologists at some time in their later careers. The boundaries between the professions were less clear-cut than today, and mining engineers had a working knowledge of mining geology. Morton too, when he enlisted on 28 July 1915, gave his occupation as Mining Engineer (National Archives of Australia, Series B2455). He was assigned to the 13th Field Artillery Battery, 5th Australian Field Artillery Brigade as a gunner. After training at Enoggera and in the Royal National Park near Sydney, the brigade embarked for overseas service from Sydney on HMAT Persic (A34) on 18 November 1915. Morton’s colleague from GSQ, Leslie Blake, now a Sergeant, was also in the 13th Field Battery, and embarked on the same ship.
Enlistment photograph of Cecil Morton
The Brigade disembarked in Egypt at Suez en route to Ismailia to help defend the canal from the Turkish Army and was involved in some minor skirmishes before undertaking several months of additional training. Morton was promoted to Bombardier on 14 March 1916, a week before the brigade sailed for France. He remained in the 13th Field Battery, but Blake was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in charge of a howitzer field gun in the newly created 105th Howitzer Battery. The Brigade arrived in Marseilles on 23 March and was entrained to the St Omer-AireHazebrouck region of French Flanders which was known as the "Nursery". By mid-April, along with the rest of the Australian 1st and 2nd Divisions, the Brigade was committed in the line at Fleurbaix, just south of the manufacturing town Armentières, before taking part in the Battle of the Somme around Pozieres in July and August. In September, the 2nd Division moved to Flanders, taking up positions near Ypres before again moving back to the Somme in midOctober (Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries 1914–18 War, Artillery, Headquarters 2nd Australian Division Artillery, March to December 1916). Morton himself was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on 15 July 1916, and on 29 November was transferred to the 105th Howitzer Battery, re-joining Blake. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 1 December. He saw continuous service in France and Flanders throughout 1917 and was recommended for a Military Cross for his bravery during the 3rd Battle of Ypres, but this was downgraded by the British Army to a Mention in Dispatches. The recommendation reads: For conspicuous services, gallantry and devotion to duty in all operations in the Ypres sector from 23rd September 1917 to 31st November 1917. His consistent good work, efficiency and thorough reliability have been of great value to his Commanding Officer. His ability and accuracy as a gunner and keen knowledge and appreciation of the technical side of artillery work have rendered his services invaluable. He has often with great risk made excellent reconnaissances and superintended the shooting of his battery with most excellent results. On the night of 3rd October at Westhoek Ridge, east of Ypres, his battery was heavily shelled and two guns were put out of action. Working continuously for over four hours, by his perseverance and example, managed to change the piece of one gun to the carriage of the other, enabling his battery to have almost full firing power for the attack on the following morning. Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries 1914–18 War Artillery Item number 13/11/25 Headquarters 2nd Australian Division Artillery March 1918 p107 (https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1353270) At the end of 1917, he was transferred to the Reserve Brigade Australian Artillery in England, which was established to train reinforcements for the Australian Field Artillery on their arrival from Australia, and to re-train personnel who had been evacuated from the front through wounds or sickness. However, he returned to the 105th Howitzer Battery in mid-August 1918, and 6 weeks later was involved in the attack of the Hindenburg Line, during which he was awarded the Military Cross for his gallantry, joining both Blake and Bryan, who had already received this honour. The recommendation for the award reads: 'On the morning of 29th September 1918, at Hargicourt, during the attack on the Hindenburg Line, he was on duty with his section. Soon after our barrage opened, the
Battery, which was in a very exposed position was subjected to a heavy counter barrage, which caused several casualties to personnel. During this counter barrage, Lieutenant Morton moved from gun to gun, checking the lay and encouraging the gunners in their task. He assisted in the removal of wounded to shelter, and started the reinforcing gun detachments on the barrage, so that no time was lost nor rounds missed. He showed great coolness and devotion to duty. During the whole of the operation, he was of valuable assistance to the Battery, and by his cool demeanour and courage under extremely heavy shell fire, had a most steadying effect upon the men under his command. His duty was carried out at great personal risk throughout.’ Recommendation by J.C. Robertson, Brigadier-General commanding Second Australian Division. Copy in the possession of Carolyn Sandercoe. The official citation published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No. 10, 29 January 1920 is slightly shortened from this. Four days later, Morton was present when Blake was mortally wounded (Dartnall, 2014, pp 310– 311). They were supervising the unloading of ammunition wagons, when a stray shell exploded under Blake’s horse. Morton dressed Blake’s wounds and arranged for his conveyance to the Casualty Clearing Station. However, Blake died of his wounds the next morning. Although having been colleagues at the GSQ for 18 months, Morton and Blake probably had little opportunity to get to know each other well before they enlisted, because of their field commitments. However, thrown together in the war, and having trained together, and served together in the same battery for much of their time in France, they had become firm friends. Morton in a letter to Blake’s brother Will, commented: In the matter of friendship, (we) were looked upon by all who knew us almost as brothers. (Letter reproduced by Dartnall, 2014, pp 311–312) Morton was promoted to Captain on 6 November 1918, in the closing days of the war, and after the Armistice, assisted in the movement of the 105th Howitzer Battery and its equipment to Thuin in Belgium, where the unit was disbanded on 30 March 1919. On 3 May 1919, he was presented with his Military Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace. Morton then returned to Australia, arriving in early July, and was discharged from the army in August 1919. Back at the GSQ Morton was re-appointed to the GSQ on 27 August, along with a promotion to Government Geologist. In the period Morton was away, the GSQ had been re-organised. Dunstan now had the title of Chief Government Geologist, with Cameron as his Deputy, and the former Assistant Geologists were now classified as Government Geologists. Morton took up his new appointment on 30 September after marrying his childhood sweetheart, Violet Vivien Goldsworthy, on 10 September. Within two weeks, accompanied by Violet, Morton was in the field, spending about 6 weeks mapping the geology of the Tamborine—Canungra area and investigating diatomite and oil shale deposits in the area. In 1920, he was dispatched to the Normanby Goldfield inland from Bowen to report on the field in the light of recent discoveries in a hitherto unworked portion of
the field. Morton’s report, his first as a geologist, was published in the Queensland Government Mining Journal in two parts (Morton, 1920) and is noteworthy in its comprehensiveness and clear writing style. Not only did he provide descriptions of the main workings, but his training as a mining and metallurgical engineer came to the fore with detailed discussion of the economics of mining in this remote area and the treatment that the ores would require. However, the reports also contain detailed and accurate descriptions of the regional geology as well as the topography, soils and vegetation. In 1922, he visited and reported on the Mount Coolon Goldfield, one of the fields that he was to come back to on other occasions over the years, especially in 1934, during its heyday (Morton, 1922, 1935a, b). Mount Coolon is almost forgotten today, but in the 1930s it was the most significant gold producer in Queensland. It was the first mine to be worked by Gold Mines of Australia Ltd (GMA), which was incorporated in April 1930 and was a forerunner company to the once great Western Mining Corporation Ltd. Morton’s next major assignment was a six-month trip in 1923 to report on the potential for coal in the Pascoe River area in Cape York Peninsula. The trip involved taking a steamer to Cooktown, where pack horses, supplies and an aboriginal field assistant named Banana were arranged for him. On his way north at Coen, the local policeman used Morton’s status as “big fella Government man” to help quell unrest in the local aboriginal community (Sandercoe, 2008). In addition to examining the coal deposits, he also described the Starcke and Batavia gold fields and some of the tungsten deposits in the vicinity and gave comprehensive and accurate accounts of the geology and topography of this remote part of the State (Morton, 1924a, b). The descriptions accord well with the results of joint mapping by the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR) and GSQ five decades later. The coal deposits were insignificant, but he recognised that the host rocks were Carboniferous in age. Over the next 10 years, Morton was engaged in examination of mineral deposits across the length of the State from Brisbane to Cape York Peninsula, and was required to show extreme versatility, reporting on commodities as diverse as gold, base metals, limestone and coal, and even being called to comment on potential for petroleum. Most of his work was published in the Queensland Government Mining Journal, but smaller reports in the form of memoranda, on topics such investigations of applications from prospectors for subsidies, are contained in the GSQ’s Commodity Files. In 1929, while the Mungana Scandal was raging (Kennedy, 1978), he spent 4 months based in Chillagoe, accompanied by his wife and daughter Valerie, carrying out inspections of the sources of copper and lead for the State smelters, where a new lead furnace had been ‘blown-in’ after several years of inactivity (ARDM for 1929; Sandercoe, 2008). In 1932, he contributed to the first edition of the Queensland Mining Guide. In 1935, a ministerial policy to decentralise the GSQ came into force, resulting in the dispersion of field staff to regional offices that were established in Rockhampton, Charters Towers and Cloncurry. The aim was to provide guidance for the thousands of prospectors rendered jobless by the Depression. This policy had been recommended by L.C. Ball, who was now Chief Government Geologist. Denmead (1957) later debated whether the policy worked out for the good of the mining industry in the long term, because it curtailed systematic regional work
being done by staff members like JH Reid. However, it suited Morton, who was transferred to Charters Towers. In his paper on the Chiefs of the Geological Survey, Denmead (1957) noted that around this time, Morton suffered a serious illness, the effects of which never completely left him and which became increasingly apparent with time. Morton’s granddaughter, Carolyn Sandercoe, has confirmed that it was a heart condition, and that he in fact had his first heart attack as early as 1929. She suggests that it may have been due in part to his war experiences, particularly the effects of poisonous gas. Nevertheless, Denmead records that in spite of this condition, Morton happily went about his inspection of the northern mineral fields and over the next 10 years he undertook some of his best work. Of his 168 reports in the Queensland Government Mining Journal, 88 were published in this period. He became the acknowledged authority on the varied mineral deposits of the Cairns hinterland. His investigations ranged from brief reports on relatively insignificant shows, brought to the Department’s attention by over-optimistic prospectors, to comprehensive reports on gold, base metal, tin and tungsten deposits that include resources that are still of economic interest today, such as the Wolfram Camp and Mount Carbine tungsten fields (Morton & Ridgway, 1944; Morton, 1945). He fully immersed himself in the mining community of north Queensland, where he made a huge impact. Denmead relates that prospectors used to flock to his office, particularly on Saturdays, to yarn with him about their ‘shows’ and discuss personal affairs, and he responded with interest offering advice when it was asked for and did not hesitate to dip into his own pocket to help those in need. During the Second World War, he again donned a uniform, enlisting in the Citizen Military Forces in Charters Towers (National Archives of Australia, Series B884), in civil defence and as a trainer of militia units, including men who could act as snipers in the event of a Japanese invasion. In his obituary (QGMJ, 1955) it was noted that he was a keen rifle shot and had belonged to the Natives Rifle Club for many years. Chief Government Geologist For someone more fitted by temperament and experience to the life of a field geologist, it must have been hard for him to adapt, when in 1946, on the retirement of L.C. Ball, he was appointed Acting Chief Government Geologist, necessitating his return to Brisbane. In those days, promotion was on seniority, and Morton was the most senior, apparently because JH Reid had left the Department for a short period and had lost some seniority (Sandercoe, 2008). Morton’s appointment was confirmed in 1947. He was apparently a popular choice with the staff but may not have been enthusiastic about the promotion himself. He had been away from Brisbane for 11 years and it would have been difficult to drop back into the routine of an office to which he was virtually a stranger. He was more at home at the campfire than the conference table, and more at ease with prospectors than politicians.
Cecil Morton around the time he was promoted to Chief Government Geologist In addition, he lost two of his experienced colleagues. Having missed out on promotion to Chief Government Geologist, Reid chose to retire in 1947, and JE Ridgeway, who had been Morton’s assistant in Charters Towers, moved into industry. In fact, his greatest worry, and which Denmead speculated contributed to his untimely death at 64, was chronic staff shortages due to an insatiable post-war demand for scientists including geologists. ARDMs for the period of his tenure show a ‘revolving door’ of geological staff. However, to ensure future additions to staff, Morton introduced a scheme to grant scholarships for the study of geology at the University of Queensland, the holders being obliged to join the GSQ on graduation and also to make their services available as cadets during university vacations. The first two scholarships were awarded in 1948 to JH Brooks and BW Hawkins, the former going on to make a successful career with GSQ, retiring in 1987. The scholarship scheme continued into the 1980s, and many of the scholarship holders made major contributions to the advancement of Queensland geoscience within GSQ. To compound Morton’s worries, the GSQ was housed in uncomfortably cramped conditions. Owing to the demands of Allied Military Command during the war, GSQ had been moved out of its roomy quarters at 2 Edward Street into inadequate accommodation in old Railways Commission Offices that had been condemned before the war as unfit for occupation. Even when the staff numbers at last began to expand after the war, GSQ was forced to remain in these unwholesome quarters during the whole of Morton’s tenure as Chief Government Geologist. In 1950, fate struck a further blow. Like many motorists of the time, Morton distrusted garage mechanics and was in the process of greasing his car at home, when it slipped off the jack onto his face and neck resulting in multiple fractures to his jaw. This necessitated an absence of several months from official duties and the painful experience accelerated the decline in his
health. However, he struggled on in spite of official disappointments and attacks of dizziness, which now occurred with increasing frequency and severity. Morton served on committees appointed to investigate the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Artesian Basin and the establishment of iron and steel works in Queensland. He was a founding member of the Geological Society of Australia. Two important developments took place during Morton’s tenure and are his most important legacies. Under his leadership, the GSQ was the only State geological survey to fully embrace the involvement of the newly formed Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR) in regional mapping within its jurisdiction. This far-sighted decision resulted in the leveraging of significant Commonwealth funds over the next 30 years and underpinned a great expansion in exploration and discoveries of mineral and energy resources in Queensland. Field work commenced in northwest Queensland in the 1950 field season and over the next 25 years, the joint BMR-GSQ mapping programme resulted in the complete mapping of the State at 1:250 000 scale. Followup joint 1:100 000 scale mapping continued until 1981 after which GSQ assumed full responsibility. Secondly, following recommendations by Powell Duffryn Technical Services Ltd in a report to the Premier, a programme of diamond drilling was instigated in the West Moreton and other coalfields in 1950, and a Coal Section was established within GSQ to manage the work. This program, which continued for the next 40 years, resulted in the discovery and proving up by GSQ of the rich coal resources of the Bowen and Galilee Basins, on which the Queensland economy is so dependant. Morton’s final illness in 1955 was long and painful, resulting in prolonged absences from work, but in spite of the numerous setbacks and disappointments that he had endured during his tenure, Denmead records that he was keen to ‘return to harness’. However, on 8 November 1955, after two weeks back at work, he suffered a fatal heart attack. Denmead (1957) summed up Morton’s character as a man of sober habits and simple tastes and having a high standard of moral conduct that he lived up to. His speech was direct and sincere and he was warm-hearted and generous, particularly to the prospecting fraternity. His work was thorough and painstaking, and although he was slow to form a judgement, his opinions were based on sound and logical arguments. He did not hesitate to condemn a prospect if convinced that it was worthless but gave encouragement and sound advice if it showed possibilities. During the time that Morton worked in the GSQ, the character of the work had undergone a gradual change. Earlier reports by geologists like R.L. Jack, W.H. Rands and B. Dunstan were devoted mainly to general descriptions of mineral fields. The emphasis changed to closer attention to individual deposits and their economic geology, working out structural controls and realistic assessments of their potential for development. Although L.C. Ball could be regarded as a pioneer in this field, Morton was the first to make it his speciality. Acknowledgements
I am indebted to Carolyn Sandercoe, Cecil Morton’s granddaughter, for sharing numerous documents, photographs and personal letters, particularly from Cecil’s early life and war service, and transcripts of oral histories recorded by her mother, Valerie Sandercoe. Although Carolyn never knew her grandfather, having been born only a few months before he died, she can be justly proud of him as a courageous soldier, loving family man and a great geologist whose legacy to Queensland was profound. References Annual Reports of the Department of Mines, 1908–1955. Australian Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Accessed 9 October 2016. Branagan, D., 2004: T.W. Edgeworth David: A Life. National Library of Australia, Canberra. Cairns Post, 1888: Charters Towers School of Mines. Saturday June 30, 1888. http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/39432622 Accessed 9 October 2016. Dartnall, H.J.G., 2014: Lost in the Mists. Leslie Russell Blake: Mawson’s cartographer and hero of Pozieres. Australian Scholarly Publishing Pty Ltd, North Melbourne, 382pp. Denmead, A.K., 1955: An appreciation (of C.C. Morton). Queensland Government Mining Journal, 56, 828–829.Denmead, A.K., 1957: The Chiefs of the Geological Survey of Queensland from 1899 to 1955. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland, LXVIII, No 10, 51–60. Finlayson, D., 2010: Crumps and Camouflets: Australian Tunnelling Companies on the Western Front. Big Sky Publishing, Newport, Australia, 480pp. Kennedy K. 1978: The Mungana Affair. University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, Queensland. McGillivray, H.I., 1921: Report of the Director, School of Mines, Charters Towers. Annual Reports of the Department of Mines for 1920, 156–157. Morton, C.C. & Ridgway, J.E., 1944: Wolfram Camp rare metal field—north Queensland. Queensland Government Mining Journal, 45, 117–131. Morton, C.C., 1920: The Normanby gold field. Report on southern portion. Queensland Government Mining Journal, 21, 268–275, 319–323. Morton, C.C., 1922: Mount Coolon gold field. Queensland Government Mining Journal, 22, 425– 430. Morton, C.C., 1924a: Geology and mineral occurrences, Pascoe River district, Cape York Peninsula —I. Queensland Government Mining Journal, 25, 78–83. Morton, C.C., 1924b: Geology and mineral occurrences, Pascoe River district, Cape York Peninsula — II. Queensland Government Mining Journal, 25, 129–134.
Morton, C.C., 1935a: Mount Coolon gold field—I. Queensland Government Mining Journal, 36, 196–200. Morton, C.C., 1935b: Mount Coolon gold field—II. Queensland Government Mining Journal, 36, 232–237. Morton, C.C., 1945: Mount Carbine wolfram field. Queensland Government Mining Journal, 46, 167–172. National Archives of Australia, Series B2455: MORTON, Cecil Charles, Captain: First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920. http://naa12.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7985130. Accessed 9 October 2016. National Archives of Australia, Series B884: MORTON CECIL CHARLES : Service Number Q222774: Citizen Military Forces Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947. http://naa12.naa.gov.au/NameSearch/Interface/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=4636855. Accessed 9 October 2016. Poole, W., 1911: Report of the Director, School of Mines, Charters Towers for 1910. Annual Reports of the Department of Mines for 1910, 174–177. QGMJ, 1955: Vale—C.C. Morton. Queensland Government Mining Journal, 56, 828. Queensland Post Office Directories, 1898 to 1905 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Accessed 9 October 2016. Reid, J.H., 1917: The Charters Towers Goldfield. Geological Survey of Queensland Publication 256. Reid, J.H., 1918: Geological Map of Charters Towers and Environs. Geological Survey of Queensland Publication 244. Sandercoe, V, 2008: Valerie Sandercoe — reminiscences of her life. Interview with Ruth S. Kerr, St Lucia on 23 February 2008. Unpublished. The Queenslander, 1910: School of Mines, results of examinations. Saturday 24 December, 1910. http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22288533 Accessed 9 October 2016. The University of Queensland, 2014: Charters Towers School of Mines. Australian e-Heritage Portal, http://eheritage.metadata.net/record/QLD-600402. Accessed 9 October 2016. Todd, J., 1995 Colonial Technology: Science and the Transfer of Innovation to Australia. Cambridge University Press, 300p.