Sub-item 1 - Letters from A. Biggs

Archibald Lawrence Meston (1890-1951), educationist, historian and anthropologist, was born on 5 June 1890 at Launceston, Tasmania. His most important anthropological work was the discovery and description of the rock carvings at Mount Cameron West in 1933. Another major addition to the study of Tasmanian prehistory was his initiation of large-scale excavation in the shell midden at the South Cave, Rocky Cape. Meston's collection of implements and other Aboriginal relics is now housed in the Museum of Victoria; his library is the property of the City of Launceston. For more information see entry in Australian Dictionary of Biography http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meston-archibald-lawrence-7563

Alfred Barrett Biggs (1825-1900), teacher, bank officer, astronomer and inventor, was born on 10 April 1825 in London. He arrived in V.D.L. in 1833 with his family. In 1877 Biggs learned of the invention of the telephone. He then constructed a pair of telephones and had them connected between Launceston and Campbell Town, successfully transmitting sounds between the two locations. It has been claimed that this was the first telephone connection in Australia. He had an interest in astronomy and in 1879 he moved to Launceston and set up an observatory in Royal Park . Biggs was a diligent and pedantic observer and contributed reports to the local newspaper and from 1884 papers to the Royal Society of Tasmania, of which he was that year elected a fellow. He made observations and measurements of comets, double stars, eclipses and transits of Mercury and Venus (another transit of Venus occurred in 1882).
For more information see : http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/biggs-alfred-barrett-12798