The Canowindra community, with scientists and family members from near and far, have gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr Alex Ritchie - the Scottish-born paleontologist whose passion and persistence was key to putting our fossil fish site on the world map.
At the Age of Fishes Museum, a plaque was unveiled in the late Dr Ritchie’s honour, inviting locals and visitors to reflect on the man whose vision helped transform a chance discovery into a globally significant treasure.
Dr Ritchie is remembered as the scientist who rediscovered the long-buried fossil bed that had first been uncovered during roadworks in 1955.
After years of searching, he relocated the site in 1993 and, with the support of both the scientific and local communities, began the painstaking work of unearthing its secrets.
Within a short time, nearly 80 tonnes of rock were recovered, revealing impressions of some 4,000 Devonian fish - including eight species never before seen by science.
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That extraordinary discovery laid the foundations for the Age of Fishes Museum, which opened in 2000 and now stands as a lasting testament to the significance of Dr Ritchie’s work.
On behalf of the museum, Andrew Wooldridge welcomed Dr Ritchie’s family and guests.
He said the response from those unable to attend in person was overwhelming, with messages and apologies arriving “from all time zones and all parts of the planet.”
Tributes flowed, from children inspired after having the opportunity to work with him to colleagues who had shared field sites as far afield as Alice Springs and Antarctica.
Fellow scientist Dr Gavin Young spoke about their years of collaboration and shared digitised photographs of expeditions that captured both the work and the camaraderie of life in the field.
Dr Ritchie’s son, Bruce, thanked the community for their support and conveyed apologies on behalf of his mother, who was unable to travel. “Mum said he’d be very honoured and humbled by this,” he told the gathering.
Though Dr Ritchie passed away in 2023, his vision continues to shape the site he loved.
He often said the Canowindra fossil bed still had more stories of the Devonian period to tell.
That yearning to know what else it holds is being carried forward by new owner Dr David McGrath, who shared his hope to preserve and expand the site for research and education for generations to come.
