Edward Charles Stirling
Sir Edward Stirling FRCS | |
---|---|
Member of the South Australian House of Assembly | |
In office 8 April 1884 – 18 March 1887 | |
Succeeded by | Lewis Cohen |
Constituency | North Adelaide |
Personal details | |
Born | Mount Lofty, South Australia , Australia | 8 September 1848
Cause of death | Bronchitis |
Spouse |
Jane Gilbert (m. 1877) |
Children | Five daughters including John Lancelot Stirling (brother) |
Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Occupation | Scientist |
Sir Edward Charles Stirling
Early life
Stirling was born at "The Lodge"
Stirling was educated at
Career
Stirling was appointed house surgeon at St George's Hospital, London, and in early 1878 became assistant surgeon[4] and lecturer on physiology and operative surgery. Stirling returned to South Australia in 1875 and on 27 June 1877 married Jane, eldest daughter of Joseph Gilbert, and took his new wife to London for medical treatment.[1] Their daughter Jane Harriet was born in London April 1878. Stirling returned to Adelaide for good in 1881, and in the following year was appointed lecturer in physiology at the University of Adelaide where he helped found the medical school.
In 1884 Stirling was elected to the
Not only was Stirling committed to the political rights of women, but he also believed in their right to a proper education. He lectured at the Advanced School for Girls, and also campaigned for women to be admitted to Adelaide University's School of Medicine. His own five daughters benefited from an excellent education, and Harriet (1878–1943) went on to earn an OBE for her work with mothers and children, and Jane (1881–1966) earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Adelaide University and later played viola in the South Australian Orchestra.
Edward Charles Stirling was appointed the first President of the State Children's Council by its founder Catherine Helen Spence. A later President was his oldest daughter Harriet (OBE), who also founded the Mothers and Babies Health Association with Helen Mayo.
Stirling had other interests and duties. He was chairman of the
In 1894 Stirling was the medical officer and anthropologist of the
Stirling was interred at the North Road Cemetery, where his grave now lies near those of several other family members. He was survived by his wife and five daughters (two sons predeceased him).[1]
Private life
In 1882, E. C. Stirling settled near the Adelaide Hills town of Stirling which had been named after his father. He named his 6½-acre property St Vigeans, after the Scottish town where his father had gone to school. A fine two-storey house was constructed in 1882–83, and during the following decades, Stirling himself oversaw the establishment of one of Australia's finest private botanical gardens which included trees and shrubs imported from interstate and overseas. As a fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society of London he had access to many species of plants. A major feature of his gardens were South Australia's first rhododendrons, one of which was named Mrs E C Stirling, and several new varieties were developed by Edward and his head-gardener.
Family
Edward Charles Stirling married Jane Gilbert (1848–1936) on 27 June 1877. Their offspring were:
- Harriet Adelaide "Harrie" StirlingJP OBE (15 April 1878 – 19 May 1943), philanthropist
- Anna Florence Stirling (1879–1939) married S (Sydney) Russell Booth (died 1949)[8] in 1910
- Jane Winifred "Jeannie" Stirling (1881–1966); studied science at Uni, played viola in SA Orchestra, married Thorburn Brailsford Robertson on 8 July 1910[9]
- (Alice) Mary Stirling (1884–1925); an Exhibition (form of scholarship) to be competed for among Hills schools was raised in her memory[10]
- Nina Eliza Emmeline Stirling (1888–1976) married Maxwell Jaffrey on 29 August 1927
- Edward Taylor Stirling (1889–1897) died falling from a tree aged 7;
- Gilbert Lancelot Stirling (1893–1893)
Stirling's brother
His eldest sister Mary Eliza Collingwood Stirling married
Honours and awards
Stirling received many honours, of which he particularly valued being admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1893. In the same year, he was also awarded an CMG Other awards included the Queen Regent of Holland's Gold Medal for 'services to art and science' in 1892, and an honorary Doctorate in Science from Trinity College Cambridge in 1910. He was also an honorary fellow of the Anthropological Society of Great Britain, fellow of the Medical and Chirurgical Society, and was knighted in 1917.
Legacy
Stirling was interested in gardening, in the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and in the welfare of children – he was president of the state children's council. He was a surgeon, physiologist, anthropologist, palaeontologist and legislator, although not sufficiently specialised to reach the highest rank in any one of these departments. With
References
- Notes
- ^ a b c d e Hans Mincham, 'Stirling, Edward (1804–1873)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 6, Melbourne University Press, 1976, pp 200–201.
- .
- ^ "Stirling, Edward Charles (STRN865EC)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ "The Conference or Congress". South Australian Register. Vol. XLIII, no. 9816. South Australia. 1 May 1878. p. 4. Retrieved 30 August 2018 – via Trove.
- ^ Former members of the Parliament of South Australia https://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/Search/Member?type=member&id=3828. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
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(help) - ^ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ Marsh, Walter (27 April 2019). "Why returning 4600 Old People to Country is the duty of all of South Australia". Adelaide Review. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ "Death of Mr. S. R. Booth". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 16 May 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 12 March 2019 – via Trove.
- The Australasian. Vol. LXXXIX, no. 2, 310. Victoria, Australia. 9 July 1910. p. 47. Retrieved 12 March 2019 – via Trove.
- The Register (Adelaide). Vol. XCI, no. 26, 577. South Australia. 3 March 1926. p. 8. Retrieved 12 March 2019 – via Trove.
- Bibliography
- Serle, Percival (1949). "Stirling, Edward Charles". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
- Primary sources including certificates recording birth, examination results, marriage, name change and death [private records held by AS Pope – files: ‘Stirling, EC’, work, documents, cuttings, life, will, photographs.
- Hale, HM 1956, The First Hundred Years of the South Australian Museum 1856–1956, Records of the SA Museum, Vol XII, 18 June 1956, Adelaide.
- Last, Peter 1949, ‘The Founder of the Adelaide Medical School’, The AMSS Review, November 1949, pp 7–21.
- Waite, Edgar R 1929, The Reptiles and Amphibians of SA, Government Printer, Adelaide, pp 102, 125–128
- Mt Barker Courier:
- Oral history: ES Booth (SOHC/MLSA OH295).
External links
- Media related to Edward Charles Stirling at Wikimedia Commons
- Works by or about Edward Charles Stirling at Internet Archive