'''Robert Logan Jack''' ([[16 September]] [[1845]] – [[6 November]] [[1921]]) was [[Queensland]] Government [[Geology|geologist]] for twenty years. 

==Early life==
Jack was born at [[Irvine]], in [[Ayrshire]], [[Scotland]] the son of Robert Jack, a cabinet-maker, and his wife Margaret, née Logan. He was educated at the Irvine academy and [[Edinburgh university]] and had some 10 years' experience with the geological survey of Scotland.

==Queensland==
Jack was appointed geologist for northern Queensland in March 1876. He arrived in the colony in April 1877, and soon afterwards was made geologist for the whole colony, succeeding [[Richard Daintree]]. An early piece of work was an examination of the coal resources of the [[Cooktown, Queensland|Cooktown]] district, and in August 1879 he began an exploring expedition to the most northerly part of Queensland in the hope that payable goldfields might be found. A second expedition was made towards the end of the year, and though no field of any great value was discovered, much was added to the knowledge of the country. The party endured many hardships and Jack himself was speared through the shoulder by hostile [[Indigenous Australians|aborigines]]. In 1880 he published a work on the ''Mineral Wealth of Queensland'', a ''Handbook to Queensland Geology'' appeared in 1886, and in 1892 with [[Robert Etheridge, Junior]], ''The Geology and Palaeontology of Queensland and New Guinea'' was published in two volumes. In 1888 [[Andrew Gibb Maitland]] was assigned Second Assistant Geologist and reported to Jack.

Jack resigned his appointment in 1899, during his time there he mapped the coal sites in [[Bowen, Queensland|Bowen]], [[Flinders River]] and [[Townsville, Queensland|Townsville]]. He reported on many [[gold]], [[tin]], [[silver]] and [[sapphire]] areas, and his early work led to the search for artesian water and the construction of the first government bore in the [[Great Artesian Basin]]. He was also a prolific author on the geology, mineralogy and [[paleontology]] of Queensland.

==Further travels==
In January 1900 Jack led an expedition to [[China]] starting from near [[Shanghai]] up the [[Yangtze River]]. In June, while at [[Chengdu]], word was received of the [[Boxer Rebellion]], and the explorers, eventually found a way out through [[Burma]]. ''The Back Blocks of China'', published in 1904, gives an account of the experiences of the party. In 1901 Jack returned to [[England]] and took up private practice, but in 1904 came to [[Australia]] again and did work for the government of [[Western Australia]]. From 1907 he resided at [[Sydney]] where he died in 1921. He was survived by a son, Robert Lockhart Jack, also well-known in Australia as a geologist. At the time of his death he had recently completed his ''Northmost Australia'', an interesting account of exploration in northern Queensland, especially valuable for its accounts of the less known men, which was published in London in 1921. He was elected a fellow of the [[Geological Society]] in 1870, he received the honorary degree of LL.D. from [[Glasgow]] university, and in conjunction with Etheridge was awarded the [[Clarke Medal|Clarke memorial medal]] by the [[Royal Society of New South Wales]] in 1895.

==Publications==
*''Northmost Australia'', George Robertson and Co., Sydney, 1922, reprinted by Hesperian Press, Western Australia, 1998, ISBN 0-85905-222-2
*With Robert Etheridge junior, ''The Geology and Paleontology of Queensland and New Guinea''
*''Handbook of Queensland Geology''

==References==
*{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Robert Logan|Last=Jack|Link=http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogI-K.html#jack1}}
*Dorothy Hill, '[http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A040526b.htm Jack, Robert Logan (1845-1921)]', [[Australian Dictionary of Biography]], Vol. 4, [[Melbourne University Press|MUP]], 1972, p. 466.

[[Category:1845 births|Jack, Robert Logan]]
[[Category:1921 deaths|Jack, Robert Logan]]
[[Category:Australian geologists|Jack, Robert Logan]]