Irene Crespin
(1896-1980)
Irene Crespin originally hoped to become a musician, but her decision
to take geology led her away from both music and a career as a teacher.
After graduating BA in 1919, she undertook further geological studies
and worked for the Geological Survey of Victoria. In 1927, she became
assistant to the Commonwealth Palaeontologist Frederick Chapman, making
field trips to East Gippsland as well as conducting research in the
National Museum.
In 1936, Crespin succeeded Chapman as Commonwealth Palaeontologist,
an appointment which entailed her removal to Canberra. As a female member
of the public service, her salary was fixed at around half that paid
to her predecessor. From 1946, her position was attached to the Bureau
of Mineral Resources. Crespin was an enthusiastic traveller, undertaking
investigations in Java and Sumatra, as well as in Lakes Entrance, Roma
and the Carnarvon Basin.
Irene Crespin was a founding member and President of the Soroptimist
Club of Canberra, of which she was made a life member in 1971. She was
a tennis player and had a golf handicap of 15 in 1942. She endowed the
Crespin Cup to be contested annually between the "soft rocks"
and "hard rocks" teams of the Bureau of Mineral Resources
and was a firm supporter of the "soft rocks" side.
Crespin's research output was considerable. She published almost 100
papers as sole author and more than 20 in collaboration with others,
a publication record which won her a DSc from the University of Melbourne.
Other honours included the Clarke Medal of the Royal Society of New
South Wales, honorary fellowship of the Royal Microscopical Society,
London, the Commonwealth Professional Officers' Association award of
merit and an OBE in 1969. She chaired the Canberra branch of the Territories
Division of the Geological Society of Australia in 1955 and was President
of the Royal Society of Canberra in 1957. In 1975, she published an
autobiographical pamphlet: Ramblings of a Micropalaeonotologist.
