David George Stead (6 March 1877 – 2 August 1957) was an Australian

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology clas ...

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

, conservationist and writer. He was born at St Leonards in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, and educated at public schools and the

Sydney Technical College The Sydney Technical College, now part of TAFE NSW, is a technical school established in 1878, that superseded the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. The college is one of Australia's oldest technical education institutions. History The Sydney M ...

. In 1909 he was a founder of, and during its early years the main driving force behind, the

Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia Wildlife refers to undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also ...

. In December 1912 he became an inaugural committee member of the Eugenics Society of New South Wales.Study of Eugenics
''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' 11 December 1912 His career included many government positions both in Australia and in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

. He served as the Australian representative on international committees concerned with

fisheries science Fisheries science is the academic discipline of managing and understanding fisheries. It is a multidisciplinary science, which draws on the disciplines of limnology, oceanography, freshwater biology, marine biology, meteorology, conservation, ...

, marine biology and oceanography. He married three times, the third time to

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and writer Thistle Yolette Harris in 1951. He died at his home in

Watsons Bay Watsons Bay is a harbourside, Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Watsons Bay is located 11 km north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, ...

, Sydney.The David G. Stead Memorial Wildlife Research Foundation of Australia: David George Stead
accessed 18 August 2018 Stead is commemorated in the David G. Stead Memorial Wild Life Research Foundation of Australia, and the Wirrimbirra Sanctuary at

Bargo Bargo is a town in the Macarthur Region of Greater Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, in the Wollondilly Shire. It is located approximately halfway between Campbelltown and Bowral, about 100 km south west of the Sydney CBD. It is sit ...

, established by his third wife in his memory in the early 1960s. Mount Stead in the Blue Mountains is named after him. He was survived by two daughters and three sons of his second marriage and by the only child of his first marriage, the novelist

Christina Stead Christina Stead (17 July 190231 March 1983) was an Australian novelist and short-story writer acclaimed for her satirical wit and penetrating psychological characterisations. Christina Stead was a committed Marxist, although she was never a me ...

. Sam in '' The Man Who Loved Children'' by

is partly modelled on her father.

Publications

As well as numerous papers and articles, books authored by Stead include: * 1905 – ''Crustaceans: Ancient, Modern and Mythical. With notes on edible crustaceans of NSW''. William Brooks: Sydney. * 1906 – ''Fishes of Australia. A Popular and Systematic Guide to the Study of the Wealth within our Waters''. William Brooks: Sydney. * 1907 – ''Eggs and Breeding Habits of Fishes with Special Reference to Australian Species''. William Brooks: Sydney. * 1908 – ''The Edible Fishes of New South Wales. Their Present Importance and Their Potentialities''. NSW Government: Sydney. * 1923 – ''General report upon the fisheries of British Malaya with recommendations for future development''. A.J. Kent, Govt. Printer. * 1933 – ''Giants and Pigmies of the Deep: a Story of Australian Sea Denizens''. Shakespeare Head Press: Sydney. * 1943 – ''The Tree Book''. Consolidated Press: Sydney. * 1935 – ''The Rabbit in Australia''. Sydney. * 1963 – ''Sharks and Rays of Australian Seas''.

Angus & Robertson Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...

: Sydney.

References

External links

Wirrimbirra Flora and Fauna Sanctuary
1877 births 1957 deaths Australian biologists Australian marine biologists Australian conservationists Australian non-fiction writers Australian ichthyologists {{Australia-writer-stub

Publications

See also

References

External links