Person
Stephens, William John (1829 - 1890)
- Born
- 16 July 1829
Levens, Westmorland, England - Died
- 22 November 1890
Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Headmaster, Naturalist and Geologist
Summary
William Stephens was a prominent organiser in colonial scientific circles and was appointed to the chair of natural history, University of Sydney in 1882. He was appointed Professor of Geology and Palaeontology in 1890.
Details
Chronology
- 1852
- Education - BA, University of Oxford
- 1853 - 1856
- Career position - Tutor, Queen's College University of Oxford
- 1853 - 1860
- Career position - Fellow, Queen's College University of Oxford
- 1855
- Education - MA, University of Oxford
- 1856 - 1866
- Career position - Headmaster, Sydney Grammar School
- 1857 - 1866
- Career position - Member, Philosophical Society of New South Wales
- 1862
- Career position - Founding Member, Entomological Society of New South Wales [1]
- 1862 - 1873
- Career position - Trustee, Australian Museum
- 1864 - 1866
- Career position - Secretary, Philosophical Society of New South Wales
- 1866 - 1890
- Career position - Member, Royal Society of New South Wales
- 1867 - 1881?
- Career position - Founder and Headmaster, New School (later Eaglesfield), Darlinghurst
- 1877 - 1879
- Career position - President, Linnean Society of New South Wales
- 1879
- Career position - Trustee, Australian Museum
- 1882 - 1890
- Career position - Professor of Natural History (later Geology), University of Sydney
- 1883 - 1890
- Career position - Trustee, Australian Museum
- 1885 - 1890
- Career position - President, Linnean Society of New South Wales
- 1888
- Career event - Original [founding] member, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science
- 1890
- Career position - Professor of Geology and Palaeontology, University of Sydney
Related entries
Sibling
Archival resources
Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales
- William John Stephens - Records, 1890; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
University of Sydney, Archives
- William John Stephens - Records, 1882 - 1966; University of Sydney, Archives. Details
Published resources
Book Sections
- Turney, Cliff, 'Stephens, William John (1829-1890), teacher and scholar' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 6: 1851 - 1890 R - Z, Bede Nairn, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1976), pp. 197-198. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/stephens-william-john-4645. Details
Journal Articles
- Leibius, A., 'Anniversary adress', Journal and proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 25 (1891), 1-45. Details
- Stephens, W. J., 'Presidential Address', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 2 (1886), 379-401. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q15995502. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/94194963. Details
- 'Stephens, William John (1829-1890)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-607175. Details
See also
- MacLeod, Roy, 'Organizing Science Under the Southern Cross' in The Commonwealth of Science: ANZAAS and the Scientific Enterprise in Australasia, 1888-1988, Roy MacLeod, ed. (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1988), pp. 19-39. Details
Gavan McCarthy
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 23 January 2026
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education