Person
Diggles, Silvester (1817 - 1880)
- Born
- 24 January 1817
Liverpool, England - Died
- 21 March 1880
Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - Occupation
- Naturalist, Ornithological artist and Musician
Summary
Sylvester Diggles was a musician, artist and naturalist who actively progressed the cultural and scientific development of Queensland in the 1850s. He was founder of the Brisbane Choral Society, the Brisbane Philharmonic Society and co-founder of the Queensland Philoscientific Society. Diggles and this society established the Queensland Museum in 1862.
Details
One year after arriving in Australia (Sydney), Sylvester Diggles moved his family to Queensland (1854). There he worked as a music and drawing teacher and musical instrument repairer. He founded the Brisbane Choral and Brisbane Philharmonic Societies and was dubbed 'the father of music in Brisbane'.
Diggles was a very religious man and joined, then lead, the New Jerusalem Church. He was also interested in science, especially ornithology and entomology. He helped establish Queensland's first scientific institute, the Queensland Philoscientific Society, which lead to the development of the Queensland Museum. Sylvester Diggles wrote many publications, but his most applauded work was the 21 part The Ornithology of Australia. He also drew 325 lithographed hand-coloured plates (many of which were used in the book) and developed a fine entomology collection (particularly moths, butterflies and beetles).
Chronology
- c. 1846
- Career position - Leader of the New Jerusalem Church in Queensland
- November 1853
- Life event - Arrived in Australia (Sydney)
- November 1854
- Life event - Moved to Brisbane
- 1859
- Career position - Founder of the Brisbane Choral Society
- 1 March 1859
- Career position - Co-founder of the Queensland Philoscientific Society
- 1861
- Career position - Founder of the Brisbane Philharmonic Society
- 1862
- Career position - Co-founder of the Queensland Museum
- 1865 - 1870
- Career position - The Ornithology of Australia published in 21 parts
Related entries
Archival resources
Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales
- Edward Pearson Ramsay - Records, 1860 - 1912, ML MSS 563; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
- Silvester Diggles - Records, 1870; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection
Published resources
Books
- Piggott, Louis J., The Bird Man of Brisbane : Silvester Diggles and his Ornithology of Australia (Moorooka (Qld): Boolarong Press, 2010), 214 pp. Details
Book Sections
- Marks, E. N., 'Diggles, Silvester (1817-1880), naturalist, artist and musician' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 4: 1851 - 1890 D-J, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972), pp. 73-74. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A040069b.htm. Details
CD Roms
- Fisher, Rod, Diggles Down Under: Brisbane via Sydney from Merseyside 1855-80 (Brisbane: Brisbane History Group, 2003). Details
Journal Articles
- Marks, Elizabeth N., 'Silvester Diggles - a Queensland Naturalist One Hundred Years Ago', Queensland Naturalist, 17 (1/2) (1963), 15-25. Details
- Marks, Elizabeth N., 'Notes on Diggles 'Ornithology of Australia'', Queensland Naturalist, 17 (5/6) (1965), 99-102. Details
- Mathews, Gregory M., 'Diggles' ornithology of Australia and other works', Austral avian record, 2 (7) (1915), 137-53. Details
- Mathews, Gregory M., 'Silvester Diggles, ornithologist', Austral avian record, 3 (4) (1917), 98-108. Details
- Piggott, L. J., 'Sylvester Diggles (1817-1880), Australian ornithologist', Archives of natural history, 31 (2) (2004), 253-74. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7516901. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/11742789. Details
- 'Diggles, Silvester (1817-1880)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-553322. Details
Reviews
- Piggott, Louis J., The Bird Man of Brisbane : Silvester Diggles and his Ornithology of Australia (2010)
Jones, Darryl, Archives of Natural History, 39, (2012), 372. Details
See also
McCarthy, G.J.
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 5 April 2022
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education