Reg Sprigg
|
Dr Reg Sprigg AO |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
Reginald Claude Sprigg 1 March 1919 Yorke Peninsula, South Australia |
| Died | 2 December 1994 (aged 75) Glasgow, Scotland |
| Resting place | Arkaroola, South Australia (ashes scattered) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Citizenship | Australian |
| Education | Adelaide Technical High School, University of Adelaide (BSc, MSc 1942) |
| Occupation | geologist, conservationist |
| Years active | 1942-1994 |
| Known for | discovery of Pre-Cambrian fossils at Ediacara Hills, South Australia; initiator, Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, Flinders Ranges, South Australia |
| Awards | Royal Society of South Australia Verco Medal (1968), HonDSc ANU (1980), HonDSc Flinders (1990) |
Reginald Claude Sprigg, AO, HonDSc ANU, HonDSc Flinders, MSc Adelaide, FTSE (1 March 1919 – 2 December 1994) was an Australian geologist and conservationist. At 17 he became the youngest Fellow of the Royal Society of South Australia. During 1946, in the Ediacara Hills, South Australia he discovered the Ediacara biota, an assemblage of some of the most ancient animal fossils known. He was involved with oceanographic research and petroleum exploration by various companies which he initiated. During 1968, he acquired a derelict pastoral lease, Arkaroola, and transformed it into a wildlife sanctuary and wilderness reserve.
Reginald Claude Sprigg was born 1 March 1919 on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula where his family were living in the small town of Stansbury. His parents were Claude Augustus Sprigg and Pearl Alice Irene née Germein, who had married on 17 September 1913 in Stansbury. Reg was their third and youngest child, a brother to D'Arcy Kingsley and Constance Vera (Connie).
His father's family were pastoralists, whilst the Germein family were mariners. The Sprigg family had relocated to the Yorke Peninsula after being "forced off their pastoral lease at Oulnina because of drought". The Germein family were ship chandlers in Mutton Cove, Devonport, Plymouth, England: three brothers came to Australia. One, Ben Germein is remembered as a hero of the Admella rescue mission.
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