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Edward Charles Stirling
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Edward Charles Stirling
Sir Edward Charles Stirling CMG FRS FRCS (8 September 1848 – 20 March 1919) was an Australian anthropologist and the first professor of physiology at the University of Adelaide.
Stirling was born at "The Lodge" Strathalbyn, South Australia, the eldest son of the Hon. Edward Stirling and his wife Harriett, née Taylor His father was the illegitimate child of a Scottish planter in Jamaica and an unknown woman of colour. He was a partner in Elder Stirling and Company before that firm became Elder Smith and Company, was a nominated member of the 1855 Legislative Council, and was an elected member of the 1857 Legislative Council. Edward Snr migrated to South Australia after receiving £1000 from his father, Archibald, who had owned slaves in Jamaica.
Stirling was educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. with honours in natural science in 1869, M.A. and M.B. in 1872, and M.D. in 1880. Stirling was admitted to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) in 1874.
Stirling was appointed house surgeon at St George's Hospital, London, and in early 1878 became assistant surgeon 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. Their daughter Jane Harriet was born in London in 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 South Australian Legislative Assembly for North Adelaide and sat for three years. There he proved an innovator and speaker for the rights of women, becoming the first person in Australasia to introduce a bill for women's suffrage. On 22 July 1885, the year after his election, he proposed the following motion for women's suffrage: 'That in the opinion of this House, women… who fulfil the conditions and possess the qualifications on which the parliamentary franchise for the Legislative Council is granted to men, shall, like them, be admitted to the franchise for both Houses of Parliament.' He then expanded on his argument for women's suffrage using the following quote from Plato: 'There is no natural difference between the sexes except in strength and both should equally participate in the Government of the State.' By this time he had four daughters of his own, and he wanted them to grow up in a fairer society. Then in 1886 he introduced a formal bill for women's suffrage into the South Australian parliament. Although this bill was not passed, a few years later South Australia was the first of the Australian colonies to give women the vote.
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; 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 South Australian Museum committee in 1884–5 and in 1889 became honorary director of the museum. In 1890 he went overland with South Australia's Governor, Lord Kintore, from Port Darwin to Adelaide and collected much flora and fauna including several specimens of the marsupial mole Notoryctes typhlops, described and illustrated in his paper in the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia, 1891, p. 154. In 1893 he investigated at Lake Callabonna a remarkable deposit of fossil bones, and with A. H. C. Zietz reconstructed the complete skeleton of the enormous marsupial Diprotodon australis and partially reconstructed an immense wombat and a bird allied to the New Zealand moa. Also in 1893, Stirling and Zietz described five new species of Australian lizards. He was also responsible for the collection of human remains of Indigenous Australians, some of which were shipped to overseas institutions. In the 21st century, the Museum started pursuing an active policy of repatriation and reburial of these remains.
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Edward Charles Stirling
Sir Edward Charles Stirling CMG FRS FRCS (8 September 1848 – 20 March 1919) was an Australian anthropologist and the first professor of physiology at the University of Adelaide.
Stirling was born at "The Lodge" Strathalbyn, South Australia, the eldest son of the Hon. Edward Stirling and his wife Harriett, née Taylor His father was the illegitimate child of a Scottish planter in Jamaica and an unknown woman of colour. He was a partner in Elder Stirling and Company before that firm became Elder Smith and Company, was a nominated member of the 1855 Legislative Council, and was an elected member of the 1857 Legislative Council. Edward Snr migrated to South Australia after receiving £1000 from his father, Archibald, who had owned slaves in Jamaica.
Stirling was educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. with honours in natural science in 1869, M.A. and M.B. in 1872, and M.D. in 1880. Stirling was admitted to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) in 1874.
Stirling was appointed house surgeon at St George's Hospital, London, and in early 1878 became assistant surgeon 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. Their daughter Jane Harriet was born in London in 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 South Australian Legislative Assembly for North Adelaide and sat for three years. There he proved an innovator and speaker for the rights of women, becoming the first person in Australasia to introduce a bill for women's suffrage. On 22 July 1885, the year after his election, he proposed the following motion for women's suffrage: 'That in the opinion of this House, women… who fulfil the conditions and possess the qualifications on which the parliamentary franchise for the Legislative Council is granted to men, shall, like them, be admitted to the franchise for both Houses of Parliament.' He then expanded on his argument for women's suffrage using the following quote from Plato: 'There is no natural difference between the sexes except in strength and both should equally participate in the Government of the State.' By this time he had four daughters of his own, and he wanted them to grow up in a fairer society. Then in 1886 he introduced a formal bill for women's suffrage into the South Australian parliament. Although this bill was not passed, a few years later South Australia was the first of the Australian colonies to give women the vote.
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; 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 South Australian Museum committee in 1884–5 and in 1889 became honorary director of the museum. In 1890 he went overland with South Australia's Governor, Lord Kintore, from Port Darwin to Adelaide and collected much flora and fauna including several specimens of the marsupial mole Notoryctes typhlops, described and illustrated in his paper in the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia, 1891, p. 154. In 1893 he investigated at Lake Callabonna a remarkable deposit of fossil bones, and with A. H. C. Zietz reconstructed the complete skeleton of the enormous marsupial Diprotodon australis and partially reconstructed an immense wombat and a bird allied to the New Zealand moa. Also in 1893, Stirling and Zietz described five new species of Australian lizards. He was also responsible for the collection of human remains of Indigenous Australians, some of which were shipped to overseas institutions. In the 21st century, the Museum started pursuing an active policy of repatriation and reburial of these remains.
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