. . ... S.A. NAT.j VOL. Xvi. 
46. Mr. Wm. Ham. March 24, 1937. 
Mr. Ham was one of the oldest members of the Field 
Naturalists, which society he joined in June 1911, and was 
for some years one of their most energetic secretaries. He held 
the position of Secretary from 1916 to 1919, taking the office of 
Vice-President in 1920, and that of President in 1922. He re- 
mained President for two years. He was an active worker in 
connection with the annual wild-flower show; and he took over 
the onerous duties of editor of “The Naturalist” in 1922, when 
that journal was but two years old, continuing as editor to 1932, 
with a further three years as co-editor. He was always willing 
to act as excursion leader or to deliver an address, his last being 
a lecture on Sea Urchins in 1936. He was also a valued member 
of the Royal Society, which he joined in 1922. 
Mr. Ham gave practically 50 years of service to the Educa- 
tion Department of South Australia, entering as a pupil teacher 
at Wallaroo Mines in 1881, and carrying out valuable and efficient 
work until his retirement in 1931. He entered the Teachers 
College as a student in 1885, and afterwards acted as Assistant 
or Head Teacher at the following schools: Sturt Street, Kapunda, 
Kadina, Rhynie, Meadows, Mt. Pleasant, Clare, and Woodville. 
He was appointed Assistant Inspector of Schools in 1912, and so 
continued until 1920, when he was appointed Senior Lecturer at 
the Teachers College, a position he held until his retirement. 
Those who have come in contact with teachers in lonely 
places throughout the length and breadth of the out-back districts 
of South Australia know that no lecturer exerted a more powerful 
and more pleasant influence on the young teachers than William 
Ham. His name is spoken of with reverence and affection by 
his old students throughout the State. 
He held the Diploma of Economics at the University, and 
from time to time acted as part-time lecturer there, and took a 
prominent part in the activities of the Workers Educational 
Association, of which he was for some time President. 
The causes of education and of natural history in South 
Australia are much poorer by the loss of a kindly and capable 
friend, a selfless and enthusiastic worker. 
7 * 
