Charles James Merfield was born in Ararat, near Stawell, Victoria 28 April 1866. He was educated at Stawell Grammar later studying mathematics a, surveying and civil engineering. He worked on the roll out of railway lines through Victoria and then New South Wales in the 1890s. His interest in astronomy grew though personal association with astronomer John Tebbutt F.R.S. F.R.A.S. Merfield contribute articles to both scholarly and local press. In 1904 he was appointed to the Railway department of the Government observatory. Merfield transferred to Melbourne Observatory in 1908, eventually becoming Deputy Director. He was a member of various scientific and astronomical bodies and a founder of the Astronomical Society of Victoria.
Merfield would have been inroduced to photography through astronomy but became adept at art photography. was active in photographic salons winning a gold medal in 1913 at the Great All Australian Exhibition in the Melbourne Exhibition Building. He was a founder member of the Melbourne Camera Club,in 1919 and served as a Vice-President and judge as well as lecturing on astronomical photography and other formula and techniques.His salon work was soft pictorial landscapes rather than scientific or astronomical. See his 'Deserted’ _Australasian photo-review_15 August 1916, p.427
Merfield took up filming in the 1920s as a member of Melbourne Observatory Eclipse Expedition in Goondiwindi, Queensland, September 1922.
- Writers:
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- Date written:
- 2022
- Last updated:
- 2022
