The man who named storms

Have you ever wondered why storms have human names?
It’s because of Clement Lindley Wragge, an English meteorologist.
The story goes that Wragge decided storms needed names and he used a variety, including the use of figures from Polynesian mythology, historical figures and, hilariously, politicians he did not like.
Wragge was born on September 18, 1852, in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England. His parents died early in his life and he was raised by a grandmother who taught him the rudiments of cosmology and meteorology.
After a disrupted education (mostly because he hated boarding school and would run away) he began studying law.
At 21, he inherited money and opted to travel to visit Egypt. That travelling led to more travelling, to India, Australia and the United States and Canada. He travelled so much he gave up law and joined a nautical academy, working his way back to Australia.
Once there he joined the Surveyor-General's office, surveying the Flinders ranges. He had to learn how to read the weather and set up two weather stations.
Wragge married Leonora Edith Florence d'Eresby Thornton on September 13, 1877 and they returned to England where in 1881 he learned of the Scottish Meteorological Society's plans to establish a weather station on Ben Nevis, He offered to make daily ascents and take meteorological observations.
This offer was subsequently accepted, with Wragge climbing to the top of the mountain on most days between 1 June and mid October, while his wife took comparable readings near sea level at Fort William.
When a Summit Observatory was opened in 1883, Wragge applied for the job of Superintendent, but was unsuccessful.
That led to him returning to Australia without his family where he set up more weather stations.
The Government was impressed with his work and in 1887 he was appointed Government Meteorologist for Queensland. Within three weeks of his arrival in Brisbane, 18.305 inches (464.9 mm) of rain fell, earning him the nickname "Inclement" Wragge.
Wragge began making weather predictions - which earned the displeasure of other meteorologists. He set up more and more weather stations, right across Australia.
He had the idea of naming storms - mainly cyclones.
He also published an almanack including his predictions and advocated for a national weather service.
When his funding from the Government was reduced he resigned and returned to travelling, ending up in New Zealand, living in Dunedin with his de facto wife Louisa Emmeline Horne and lecturing on meteorology.
Now most weather organisations use a list of names (rather than particular people) to name storms.
He died in Auckland of a stroke on December 10, 1922 and is buried in the Pompallier Cemetery in Birkenhead.​