Robert L. J. Ellery

Robert Lewis John Ellery (* July 14, 1827 in Cranleigh, Surrey; † January 14, 1908 in Melbourne) was an English astronomer.

Ellery studied medicine in order to continue his father's trade as a surgeon. In 1851 he went because of the prospect of major gold discoveries in Australia and worked well for a short time as a practicing physician in the vicinity of Melbourne. When the Victorian government decided to build in Williamstown an observatory, she confided in 1853 to the line Ellery, who had learned the practice of stargazing during his studies at Cambridge Friends.

The observatory began as a small cottage with a few instruments, but was extended in 1854 by some devices and moved to Melbourne in 1862. Since the work to be undertaken were manageable, Ellery had a sideline as an overseer in the marine depot. In 1858 he began his geodetic view of Victoria, which was completed in 1874. 1858, the government a second observatory at Flaggstaff Hill, West Melbourne, whose leadership of the German astronomer Georg von Neumayer took over.

Robert Ellery was one of the founders of the Royal Society of Victoria and its president 1856-1884. Also, he was for many years a member of the Council of the University of Melbourne. In 1873 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in London. In 1889 he was awarded the Clarke Medal by the Royal Society of New South Wales. Robert Ellery was 1895 in Pension.

Under his leadership, eight volumes of astronomical and meteorological observations 28 volumes of Melbourne Observatory and two very valuable star catalogs published.