Algernon Henry Belfield and the Eversleigh Weather Diaries, 1877-1922

At nine in the morning on a cold Friday at the end of June 1922, Algernon Henry Belfield made his way to his weather station on his property, Eversleigh, sixteen kilometres west of Armidale, to observe and record that morning's weather. Making weather observations was a worthwhile pastime for an elderly grazier in his later years. He had in fact been doing this every morning for forty-five years. Sadly, however, this was the last time he would do so. On a Wednesday in early August 1922, Belfield went to collect the mail at the nearby Dumaresq railway station. On his return, he declared that he was feeling weary and retired to bed to rest. He died the following Saturday. Almost a century later, in March 2011, Belfield's grandson, Richard Belfield, donated his grandfather's weather diaries to the universities of New England and Newcastle. Recording daily weather observations from 1877 to 1922, these diaries are unique for their longevity and level of meteorological detail. Unlike some rural weather observers of this period who recorded only temperature and rainfall, often on a seemingly random basis as part of their daily work, Belfield recorded another eight weather parameters and additional comments at nine a.m. each day. This article considers Belfield's meteorological and astronomical activities, the unique nature of his weather records and his contributions to the broader scientific community. We demonstrate that these records allow us to present a preliminary analysis of rainfall at Eversleigh, with reference to the impact of rainfall variability in the region, using the Federation Drought of 1895- 1903 as a case study.