Clement Lindley Wragge FRGS (abt.1852-1922)

Clement Lindley "Inclement" Wragge FRGS

Born about 18 Sep 1852 in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Son of Clement Ingleby Wragge and Anna Maria (Downing) Wragge

[sibling(s) unknown]

Husband of Nora Eulaliecia Edith Florence d'Eresby (Thornton) Wragge — married 13 Sep 1877 in Adelaide, Colony of South Australia

Husband of Louisa Emmeline (Horne) Wragge — married after 1900 [location unknown]

Descendants

Father of Violet Leonore Eulalie Wragge, Leonora Ingleby Wragge, Clement Lionel Egerton Wragge, Rupert Lindley Wragge, George Paulsen Ingleby Wragge, Reginald Willoughby Wragge, Anna Marie Marguerite Blanche Wragge, Lindley Herbert Musgrave Egerton Wragge and Kismet Kent Wragge

Died 10 Dec 1922 at about age 70 in Birkenhead, Auckland, New Zealand

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Profile last modified 19 Mar 2024 | Created 12 Sep 2017

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Have you ever wondered where the naming of tropical cyclones (called 'typhoons' when they form in the western north Pacific and 'hurricanes' in the eastern Pacific and Atlantic) originated? Do you know who came up with the idea? Well look no further: it happened first in Australia and the man who acomplished this was Clement "Inclement" Wragge!

Biography

Clement Wragge FRGS is Notable.

Although sometimes described as an 'Australian' meteorologist, Clement Wragge was born in 1852 at Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England^[1] and baptised on the 30th of October, to Clement Ingleby Wragge and Anna Maria Downing.^[2] At around age five, after the deaths of his mother and father, he moved to Oakamoor, Staffordshire and was raised by his paternal grandmother Emma Wragge (formerly Ingleby). She taught him basic cosmology and meteorology and he became an avid naturalist.

When he was around thirteen his grandmother died and he then moved to London and lived with his Aunt Fanny and her family in Teddington.^[3] He subsequently travelled extensively on the continent of Europe with his Uncle William of Cheltenham.

He initially sought to follow in the footsteps of his father, studying law at Lincoln's Inn, Holborn.

On turning twenty-one in 1873, Wragge came into the inheritance left to him by his parents plus a legacy from one of his aunts. In late 1874 he took a break from his legal studies to visit Egypt, Palestine, and Jerusalem but ultimately decided to not return to England.

Instead, he travelled via India to Australia. In August 1875 he left Newcastle, New South Wales, heading to San Francisco, California. He travelled by rail across the west to Toronto, Ontario via Salt Lake City, Utah. While in Salt Lake City he met with Brigham Young. In Toronto he caught-up with his cousin, and famous railway engineer, Edmund Wragge.

Returning to England, and finding that his uncle George (of solicitors Ingleby, Wragge and Ingleby, Birmingham) was displeased with him, Wragge decided to return to Australia.

After completing his training as a Midshipman, Wragge worked his way to Melbourne, Victoria in 1876.

After visiting a relative of his paternal grandmother, Rupert Ingleby QC, in Adelaide, South Australia, Wragge secured a position with the Surveyor-General's Department and assisted in surveys around the Flinders Ranges and areas east of Adelaide between the Marne River (then called the Rhine South River) and the Murray River.

On the 13th of September 1877, he married Leonora Edith Florence d'Eresby Thornton. Leonora was a younger sister to the wife of Rupert Ingleby QC.^[4]^[5]

In 1878, Clement and Leonora returned to Oakamoor, Staffordshire.^[6]

Meteorology
Around this time Wragge determined to pursue his interests in meteorology and in 1879 set up weather stations in North Staffordshire which he monitored continually until 1883. In 1881 he also undertook work for the Scottish Meteorological Society on mount Ben Nevis, for which he was awarded their Gold Medal in 1882.

After failing to secure the role of Superintendent of the Ben Nevis Summit Observatory, he decided to return to Australia. He and the family initially settled in 1884 outside Adelaide, South Australia. Wragge established a private meteorological observatory and then a weather station on Mount Lofty. In 1886 he was pivotal in founding the Royal Meteorological Society of Australia.

From the 1st of January 1887 he was appointed Government Meteorologist for Queensland, and subsequently built a home, 'Capemba', in the Brisbane suburb of Taringa. Soon after arriving there was significant rainfall, earning Wragge the nickname 'Inclement'.

While controversy surrounded him labelling his works Meteorology of Australasia, Chief Weather Bureau, Brisbane, Wragge also oversaw the establishment of an extensive network of weather stations across Queensland, connected by telegraph lines. His work extended to work undertaken in New Caledonia,^[7] New South Wales and Tasmania and he was active in training others in weather forecasting and in giving public lectures.

Despite his work and contributions, Wragge ultimately decided to leave Australia. At Federation in 1901, meteorological matters became a Federal responsibility and he was not offered a position. His opinionated nature and tendency to express views on all manner of subjects may have been a contributing factor (for an example, refer to the Queensland Figaro (Brisbane, Qld. : 1901 - 1936) Thu 31 Jan 1907 Page 9).

Clement and Nora became estranged and it seems that this may have happened before 1900 as his youngest son, Kismet, was born in around 1900 to 36 year old Louise. Louise was born in India and it is uncertain where she and Clement met but it could have been in India. He certainly continued to travel frequently and extensively.^[8]

In any case, about 1903 Clement settled in Auckland where he died in 1922.^[9]

Sources

↑ "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2N76-1P1 : 1 October 2014), Clement Lindley Wragge, 1852; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JQTW-L9Y : 11 February 2018, Clement Lindley Wragge, 30 Oct 1852); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 533,992, 533,993, 533,994.
↑ "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRNV-CZ6 : 29 September 2019), Clement L Wragge in entry for Frances A Wragge, 1871.
↑ South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) Saturday 6 October 1877 p 7
↑ SA historical marriage index: 1877, 113/173, Wragge, Clement Lindley and Thornton, Leonore Eulaliecia Edith Florence D, at Adelaide
↑ "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27V-XX35 : 13 December 2017), Clement L Wragge, Farley, Staffordshire, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 6, Piece/Folio 2743/65, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,937.
↑ The Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934) Fri 6 Feb 1891 Page 21
↑ Queensland Figaro (Brisbane, Qld. : 1901 - 1936) Thu 29 Mar 1906 Page 11
↑ "New Zealand, Civil Records Indexes, 1800-1966," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGX9-5QRB : 4 January 2018), Clement Lindley Wragge, 1923; citing Death, New Zealand, registration number 1923/2440, Archives of New Zealand, Wellington.