Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Harold George RAGGATT

(Sir) Harold George Raggatt, was born on the 25 January 1900, in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He was born the second child of five, with Percy Claude Raggatt and Martha Annie as his parents. Raggatt was educated at Gordon Public School where he gained a passion for the English language. He then went on to Sydney Technical High School, followed by the University of Sydney. With the conclusion of the first year of his undergraduate degree, Raggatt enlisted on 4 March 1918 as an 18-year-old to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and embarked for England on the 21 March 1918. He participated in the First World War and his service number was 22213. Raggatt joined the 13th Field Company, Engineers, in February 1919, where he assisted in reconstruction work in the Meuse Valley, France.

Raggatt resumed his university course after being demobilised from the Australian Imperial Force on 28 September 1919. Raggatt decided to pursue a career in geology after coming under the influence of Sir Edgeworth David. Raggatt conducted the Geological Survey of New South Wales with a team mid-1922. During that time, he developed a passion for publishing and made radio broadcasts in 1924-25.

On 19 January 1927 Raggatt married Edith Thora Hellmers, a fellow undergraduate who was also a schoolteacher at St Philips Anglican Church, Sydney. Raggatt spent 6 months in 1934-35 exploring Western Australia looking for oil. He returned to New south Wales and continued his search, publishing articles on the various mineral deposits he examined[i]. In 1939 Raggatt was chosen by Walter Woolnough to succeed him as geological adviser to the Commonwealth government. In June 1940, Raggatt was appointed as geological adviser after rejecting an offer for an oil search in Timor.

To ensure supplies during World War II, Raggatt gathered a small group of assistants to compile minerals into a comprehensive inventory. His title was then changed to director, mineral resources survey[ii]. Raggatt and the geologist J. M. Rayner were sent to North America examining geological surveys and associated organizations in 1945. Through their report, the Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics was formed in 1946. The head office was located in Melbourne, hence the reason Raggatt stayed in that city until 1951.

Raggatt was appointed secretary of the Department of National Development on the 16 July 1951. Although Raggatt was reluctant to leave his geological work, he realised that the opportunity to achieve greater national objectives was given to him. His minister Richard Gavin (Baron) Casey heavily supported Raggatt supplying him with manpower and money for the search of minerals.

Raggatt associated himself with the Australian Atomic Energy Commission and was an enthusiastic member of the Snowy Mountains Council, Australian Water Resources Council, the Australian Mineral Development Laboratories and many other environmental groups. Raggatt was also elected fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1954[iii]. He belonged to the Geological society in Australia, The American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Society of Economic Geologists and the Royal and Linnaean Societies of New South Wales He was made an honorary member of the Australian Institute of Mining in 1961 and in 1964 was its medallist. Raggatt was also appointed C.B.E in 1954 and in 1963 he was knighted and took the name Sir Harold George Raggatt[iv].

Raggatt finally retired in 1965 and assisted the United Nations Development Programme, visiting various countries in Africa and in Asia.

In 1968 before his death, Raggatt finished the book ‘Mountains of Ore’ summarising the development of mining in Australia and adding in his own contributions[v]. Raggatt was also very influential to his peers. He passed his enthusiasm to other officials such as (Sir) William Spooner. Raggatt also had the ‘Raggatt Mountains’ in ‘Enderby Land’, Antarctica named after him.

On the 2nd November 1968 in his home in Hughes, Canberra, Sir Harold George Raggatt died of a myocardial infection. He was cremated with Presbyterian forms and was kept by his wife and daughter.

All in all, Sir Harold George Raggatt was a great leader, who influenced many. He was always alert and lively, and modest, filled with great humour. Raggatt had a strong sense of justice and was generally well liked amongst all his peers.

Dylan Alima

Sydney Technical High School

Bibliography

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/raggatt-sir-harold-george-11477
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=8025149&isAv=N
http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000728b.htm#related
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10401554
 

[i] Raggatt, H. G., ‘Papers of Sir Harold Raggatt’, 1922-circa, 1989.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] D. F. Branagan, 'Raggatt, Sir Harold George (1900–1968)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/raggatt-sir-harold-george-11477/text20465, published first in hardcopy 2002.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Ibid.