Person
Stead, David George (1877 - 1957)
FLS
- Born
- 6 March 1877
North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - Died
- 1 August 1957
Watsons Bay, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Naturalist
Summary
David Stead was a naturalist whose initial training was as a stampmaker and compositor. From 1902 he worked nearly 20 years for the New South Wales fisheries authorities. In his work for the State Trawling Industrial Undertaking and the Rabbit Menace Enquiry his scientific approach, practical knowledge and industry were appreciated, while his proposals were less so. Stead was particularly noted as a campaigner for nature conservation and a popular scientific educator. He pioneered radio broadcasts on wildlife topics and was a prolific writer especially for newspapers and the popular press. Stead was an enthusiastic member of a number of scientific and naturalists's societies in New South Wales, including a founding member of the Wild Life Preservation Society of Australia, and member of Council of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales. Among his works were the pioneering books Fishes of Australia (1906) and The edible fishes of New South Wales (1908). In addition to his own publications, he edited the journals Australian wild life, Australian geographer and Australian naturalist. Stead's collection Australian and Malayan fish is now in the Australian Museum.
Details
Chronology
- 1889
- Life event - Apprenticed to a stampmaker
- 1898 - 1957
- Career position - Member, Linnean Society of New South Wales
- 1902 - 1910
- Career position - Naturalist, New South Wales Board of Fisheries
- 1909
- Career position - Founding Member, Wild Life Preservation Society of Australia
- 1915 - 1920
- Career position - Manager, State Trawling Industrial Undertaking
- 1919 - 1921
- Career position - President, Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia
- 1921 - 1923
- Career position - Acting Director of Food Supplies, British Government in Malaya
- 1924 - 1929
- Career position - President, Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia
- 1925 - 1926
- Career position - Commissioner, New South Wales Rabbit Menace Enquiry
- 1928 - ?
- Career position - Joint Editor, Australian geographer
Related entries
Published resources
Books
- Stead, David G., Fishes of Australia: a popular and systematic guide to the study of the wealth within our waters (Sydney: William Brooks, 1906), 278 pp. Details
- Stead, David G., The edible fishes of New South Wales: their present importance and their potentialities (Sydney: New South Wales Department of Fisheries, 1908), 123 pp. Details
- Stead, David G., The rabbit in Australia : history, life story, habits, effect upon Australian primary production, and best means of extermination (Sydney: Winn & Co., 1935), 108 pp. Details
Book Sections
- Walsh. G. P., 'Stead, David George (1877 - 1957), naturalist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 12: 1891 - 1939 Smy-Z, John Ritchie, ed. (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1990), pp. 57-8. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/stead-david-george-8634. Details
Journal Articles
- Stead, D. G., 'Walter Wilson Froggatt, F.R.Z.S., 1858 - 1937', Australian naturalist, 10 (1937), 1-17. Details
- Stead, D. G. and Taylor, D. R., 'Editorial note', Australian geographer, 1 (1928), 3-5. Details
- Stead, David G., 'A tribute to Professor Griffith Taylor', Australian geographer, 1 (1) (1928), 42-62, https://doi.org/10.1080/00049182808702033. Details
See also
- Prince, J. H., The first one hundred years of the Royal Zoological Society of N.S.W. 1879 - 1979 (Sydney: Royal Zoolgical Society of New South Wales, 1979), 81 pp. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 27 January 2022, Last modified: 27 February 2025