Person Page - 47368

     Alice Louisa Bartley was born in 1875 at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia^G. She was the daughter of Nehemiah Bartley and Sarah Sophia Barton.¹ She married Walter E. Shepherd in 1905 at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G. She died in 1929 at Mosman, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G.
     From 1905, her married name became Shepherd.

     Olive Ruby Bartley was born Queensland BDM index no.1878/B023207 in 1878 at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia^G. She was the daughter of Nehemiah Bartley and Sarah Sophia Barton.¹ She married Edward D. Sparke in 1908 at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a NSW BDM index no. 623/1908 marriage. She died in 1936 at Sutherland, New South Wales, Australia^G, NSW BDM index no. 5008/1936.
     Her married name became Sparke.

     Walter E. Shepherd married Alice Louisa Bartley, daughter of Nehemiah Bartley and Sarah Sophia Barton, in 1905 at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G.

     Edward D. Sparke married Olive Ruby Bartley, daughter of Nehemiah Bartley and Sarah Sophia Barton, in 1908 at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a NSW BDM index no. 623/1908 marriage.

     Robert Scot-Skirving was born on 18 December 1859 at Camptown, Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland^G. He was the son of Robert Scot Skirving and Elizabeth Owen.¹ He married Lucy Susan Hester, daughter of James Jeaffreson Hester and Jane Caroline Cuénod-Churchill, on 6 January 1886 at North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a at St Thomas’s Anglican Church, corner of Church and McLaren streets, North Sydney by the Rev. Latimer Jackson assisted by the Rev. Stephen H. Childe / NSW BDM index no. 3652/1886 marriage.^2,3,4 He died on 15 July 1956 at age 96 at Bellevue Hill, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G.^5,6,7
     SKIRVING, ROBERT SCOT (1859-1956), physician and surgeon, was born on 18 December 1859 at Camptown, Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, son of Robert Scot Skirving, farmer, and his wife Elizabeth (Leila), daughter of William Owen, squire of Ekindale, Rathdownie, Ireland. Among his forbears were Adam Skirving, poet, Archibald Skirving, painter, and 'Black' John Skirving who escaped from Flodden Field with the standard wrapped around his body and took it safely to Edinburgh. Reared in an atmosphere of extreme Calvinism, Robert attended the Edinburgh Academy and Eastman's Royal Naval Academy, near Portsmouth, England. A few weeks too old for the Royal Navy, he entered the merchant service and, after two voyages to Iceland, joined the training ship Conway, and was apprenticed in 1875 in a sailing vessel, Tantallon Castle, bound for Port Adelaide.

On the return voyage Scot Skirving developed beri-beri, which led him in 1876 to enrol in medicine at the University of Edinburgh (M.B., Ch.M., 1881). He came fifth in a year which also included (Sir) Alexander MacCormick, (Sir) Thomas Anderson Stuart and (Sir) Arthur Conan Doyle. After further studies in Dublin and Vienna he was appointed house physician at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, in 1881. Early in 1883 Scot Skirving joined the migrant ship, Ellora, as ship's surgeon and returned to Australia. He practised in Queensland until appointed medical superintendent at (Royal) Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, by Anderson Stuart in November 1883. In 1884 he set up practice in College Street and on 6 January 1886 at Willoughby married Lucy Susan Hester (d.1950). He was successively honorary assistant physician (1884-89), honorary physician (1889-1911) and consultant from 1911 at R.P.A.H. As honorary physician at the Hospital for Sick Children (1884-89) he clashed with its lady superintendent, Frances Holden. He was also an able surgeon and was honorary surgeon at St Vincent's Hospital (1889-1923). He was the lecturer in clinical medicine at the University of Sydney (1889-1911), was president of the New South Wales branch of the British Medical Association (1891-92) and served as chief medical adviser to the Australian Mutual Provident Society (1911-36). During World War II he was persuaded by (Sir) Herbert Schlink to lecture at R.P.A.H.

As a clinician Scot Skirving was greatly celebrated. A handsome man, about 5 ft 10 ins (178 cm) tall, with aquiline features, he was a popular teacher and an accomplished, if somewhat flamboyant, lecturer, illustrating his points with amusing anecdotes. He served in the South African War as consulting surgeon (1900-01) with MacCormick and on his return wrote a pamphlet on Our Army in South Africa (1901).

In England on the outbreak of World War I, Scot Skirving served as a major in the Royal Army Medical Corps, for three months in charge of an auxiliary hospital in Essex, then as surgeon specialist at Queen Alexandra Military Hospital, Millbank, London. In 1918 he reported on Australian medical units in northern France, at the request of Major General Sir Neville Howse. He returned to Sydney in January 1919.

Scot Skirving published extensively on medical and more general subjects in the Australian Medical Gazette and the Medical Journal of Australia, including his reminiscences of his voyages to Australia. Widely read, with a poetic turn of phrase and an evident love of the English language, he entertained Robert Louis Stevenson (whose works he admired) and wrote a novel, Love and Longitude (1901). His speech, uttered in a deep, rich voice, reflected both the Bible and his saltier experiences in the merchant marine. He became renowned for his biting comments about his colleagues. The sea remained 'his greatest love': he held a master's certificate, belonged to the League of Ancient Mariners of New South Wales, sailed his own yacht until his eighties, and in 1931 published a manual, Wire Splicing for Yachtsmen.

Even at the time it was rare for 'a man to practice as a specialist surgeon at one hospital and as a specialist physician at another'. He was proud to be a foundation fellow of both the (Royal) Australasian College of Surgeons (1927) and of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (1938) and an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, England (1953). Scot Skirving died at his Bellevue Hill home on 15 July 1956 and was cremated. He was survived by one of his three sons: one had died in infancy and Archibald was mortally wounded in 1915 at Gallipoli while serving with the Royal Irish Fusiliers. Scot Skirving's estate was valued for probate at £213,817 in two States. His name is commemorated at the University of Sydney by a prize in medicine and surgery.

Select Bibliography

R. H. O. B. Robinson and W. R. Le Fanu, Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 1952-1964 (Edinb, 1970); D. G. Hamilton, Hand in Hand (Syd, 1979); J. A. Young et al (eds), Centenary Book of the University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine (Syd, 1984); A. Macintosh (ed), Memoirs of Robert Scot Skirving 1859-1956 (Syd, 1988); Medical Journal of Australia, 10 Nov 1956, p 734, and for his publications; Bulletin of the Post-Graduate Committee in Medicine University of Sydney, 20, no 9, Dec 1964, p 281.

Author: J. Atherton Young

Print Publication Details: J. Atherton Young, 'Skirving, Robert Scot (1859 - 1956)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, D.² He was Medical practitioner. He graduated from University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland^G, in 1881 with a Bachelor of Medicine (M.B.) He graduated from University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland^G, in 1881 with a Master of Surgery (Ch.M.)

     Lucy Susan Hester was born on 11 June 1864 at Calicut (Kozhikode), Madras Presidency, India^G.^1,2 She was the daughter of James Jeaffreson Hester and Jane Caroline Cuénod-Churchill.³ She was baptised on 12 November 1864. She married Robert Scot-Skirving, son of Robert Scot Skirving and Elizabeth Owen, on 6 January 1886 at North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a at St Thomas’s Anglican Church, corner of Church and McLaren streets, North Sydney by the Rev. Latimer Jackson assisted by the Rev. Stephen H. Childe / NSW BDM index no. 3652/1886 marriage.^4,5,6 She died on 8 September 1950 at age 86 at Bellevue Hill, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, at her home, “Foreland”, Mansions Road, Bellevue Hill, Sydney / NSW BDM index no. 15419/1950.⁷ She was buried at Northern Suburbs Crematorium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, privately cremated.⁷
     Her married name became Scot-Skirving. Lucy’s birthplace, Calicut (now Kozhikode) and the surrounding districts were among the territories ceded to the British by Tipu Sultan of Mysore at the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Mysore War in 1792. The newly acquired possessions on the Malabar Coast were organised into the Malabar District of Madras Presidency, and Calicut became the district capital.
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Marriage notice in the Melbourne newspaper, The Argus, Thursday 28 January 1886:

SCOT-SKIRVING—HESTER.—On the 6th inst., at St. Thomas's North Shore, Sydney, by the Rev. H. Latimer Jackson, M.A., assisted by the Rev. Stephen H. Childe, B.A., Robert Scot-Skirving, M.B., third son of R. Scot-Skirving, Sunderland-house, Islay, Scotland, and of Edinburgh, to Lucy Susan, second daughter of the late James Hester, M.D., Indian Medical Service, and step-daughter of T. F. Waller, Waverton, St. Leonards, Sydney.^8,6

     James Jeaffreson Hester was born circa 1833 at Abingdon, Berkshire, England^G. He was the son of James Torry Hester and Catherine Esther Law.¹ He was baptised on 27 October 1834.² He married Jane Caroline Cuénod-Churchill, daughter of Aimé Timothée Cuénod and Susan Harriett Elizabeth Churchill. He died on 1 May 1871 at Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia^G, at his residence.³
     He was Physician.⁴
Served in the Indian Medical Service before coming to Australia.
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The Argus reported on Wednesday 9 January 1867 that James Hester, Albury, NSW, had been added to the list of legally qualified medical practioners of the colony.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Saturday 2 February 1867 that James Hester had been appointed Vaccinator for the district of Albury.

Numerous contemporary newspapers report Dr James Hester treating victims of an outbreak of Cumberland Disease (Anthrax) transmitted between livestock and humans around Albury in 1867.
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The Argus shipping intelligence columns on Monday 16 May 1870 reported James Hester and family, including five children and two servants, arriving at the port of Melbourne, Hobson’s Bay, as saloon passengers on the ship s.s. Great Britain, which left Liverpool, England, on 19 March. Due to earlier recorded presence in Australia, this appears to be a return voyage of the Hesters—not the date of first arrival in Australia.

Dr. James Hester and Mrs. Hester, Miss Hester, Miss Lily Hester, Masters J. Hester, M. Hester, S. Hester, and two servants ;
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Death notice in The Argus, 4 May 1871:

HESTER.—On the 1st inst., at his residence, Wangaratta, Dr. James Hester, son of Dr. James Torry Hester, England, aged 38 years.^{4,5,6,7,8,9,3} 0AA669FCB98B46A5ADF59C43407C9CC7E497.

     Jane Caroline Cuénod-Churchill was born on 3 April 1840 at Vevey, Kanton Vaud, Switzerland^G.¹ She was the daughter of Aimé Timothée Cuénod and Susan Harriett Elizabeth Churchill.² She married James Jeaffreson Hester, son of James Torry Hester and Catherine Esther Law. She married Thomas Francis Waller on 17 January 1874 at Melbourne, Victoria, Australia^G, in a at Christ Church, South Yarra, by the Rev. W. N. Guinness marriage.³ She died on 1 July 1898 at age 58 at Edgecliff, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, at residence “Poynton”, Glenmore Road / NSW BDM index no. 10777/1898.^4,5
     Jane Caroline Cuénod-Churchill usually went by her middle name of Caroline. Her married name became Waller. Her married name became Hester.

     David John Stanley Rutland married Shirley Follett Holt, daughter of Lt.-Col. Frank Follett Holt, before 1958.¹

     Archibald Waller Scot-Skirving was born at Elizabeth Street, Hyde Park, Sydney on 7 June 1889 at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G.¹ He was the son of Robert Scot-Skirving and Lucy Susan Hester.² He died on 9 August 1915 at age 26, ‘from wounds received at the Dardanelles, August 7th’.^3,4
     He was educated Bachelor of Medicine (1911), Master of Surgery (1913), University of Sydney.⁵
Archibald was mortally wounded in 1915 at Gallipoli while serving with the Royal Irish Fusiliers.

At his death was a captain in the 5th Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers.

Following from an article in the October 1999 issue of the Sydney University Gazette: ‘The University community gathered in May in the Great Hall to commission a new bell that bears an old name, the C#3 Archibald Scot Skirving Bell, number 30 in the University’s 62-bell carillon. The carillon was installed in 1928, as a memorial to those University students who died in the First World War. Bell Number 30, one of the smaller bells, was dedicated to the memory of Archibald Waller Scot Skirving, a graduate of medicine who died of his wounds on the battlefield in 1915.’.^6,7,8 CAC5860A94134C3EB04933E7A12AD1D4D394. He was Medical practitioner.