Adelaide: early years

William's travel diary of early 1886 and his introduction to Adelaide and South Australia, especially to the large Todd family and their sixteen-year-old daughter, Gwendoline, begin this chapter. The university was new and small and the student numbers tiny; William found time for lacrosse, initial meetings of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the local Exhibition, and letters to Richard Threlfall in Sydney, seeking guidance with Maxwell's theory of electricity and magnetism. William's teaching load was soon excessive, however, and he was granted permission...

William's travel diary of early 1886 and his introduction to Adelaide and South Australia, especially to the large Todd family and their sixteen-year-old daughter, Gwendoline, begin this chapter. The university was new and small and the student numbers tiny; William found time for lacrosse, initial meetings of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the local Exhibition, and letters to Richard Threlfall in Sydney, seeking guidance with Maxwell's theory of electricity and magnetism. William's teaching load was soon excessive, however, and he was granted permission to hire a lecturer, Robert Chapman, and an instrument-maker, Arthur Rogers. Early in 1888, William and Gwendoline became engaged.