Stillwell, Frank Leslie (1888 - 1963)

Summary

Frank Stillwell was a geologist who was widely recognised as the leading figure in Australia in ore mineralogy and minerography. His principal areas of research were the lead-zinc-silver ores in the lode at Broken Hill, New South Wales; tellurites of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia; and the gold reefs around Bendigo, Victoria. A consequence of his work was the revival and expansion of mining activities in these regions. As Officer-in-Charge of the Minerographic Section of CSIR(O) for nearly 25 years from 1929 Stillwell and his team investigated nearly every major (and many minor) ore deposit in Australia. Before joining CSIR Stillwell was Geologist with the Australasian Antarctic Expedition from 1911 to 1913, under the leadership of Douglas Mawson, and led the coastal survey approximately 50 miles east of the base at Cape Denison in the summer of 1912 - 1913. From this Stillwell formed the now widely-accepted concept of metamorphic differentiation. He was active in scientific organisations, being a foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and holding several offices for the Royal Society of Victoria including that of President from 1953 to 1954. Stillwellite, a rare-earth mineral from Mt Isa in Queensland, and Mount Stillwell in Antarctica are named in his honour. The F. L. Stillwell Award is presented by the Geological Society of Australia for the best paper published in the Australian journal of earth sciences.

Details

Chronology

1910 - 1960

Career position - Member, Royal Society of Victoria, Australia

1911

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc(Hons)), University of Melbourne

1911 - February 1913

Career position - Geologist, Cape Denison, Australasian Antarctic Expedition

1913

Education - Master of Science (MSc), University of Melbourne

1914 - 1915

Career position - Acting Lecturer in Mineralogy, University of Adelaide

1915

Award - Polar Medal (Silver)

1916

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Melbourne

1916 - 1919

Career position - Geologist, Commonwealth Advisory Council on Science and Industry, Australia

1919

Award - David Syme Research Prize, University of Melbourne

1919 - 1921

Career position - Assistant Geologist, Mines Department of New South Wales, Australia

1921 -

Career position - Foundation Councillor (Geology), Australian National Research Council

c. 1921 -

Career position - Committee Member, Victorian Branch, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy

1921 - 1923

Career position - Staff Geologist, Bendigo Amalgamated Goldfield Company, Australia

1921 - 1953

Career position - Member, Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy

1924 - 1927

Career position - Mineragraphy Fellowship, University of Melbourne

1927 - 1929

Career position - Research Petrologist, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

1929 - 1947

Career Position - Honorary Secretary, Royal Society of Victoria, Australia

1929 - 1953

Career position - Head, Mineragraphic Investigations Section, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia

1929 - 1963

Career position - Member of Council, Royal Society of Victoria

1936 - 1963

Career position - Member, Society of Economic Geologists, U.S.A.

1937

Career event - Fellow, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS)

1948

Award - Institute Medal, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy

1949 - 1952

Career Position - Vice President, Royal Society of Victoria, Australia

1951

Award - Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales, Australia

1952

Award - Corresponding Member, Geological Society of America

1952 - 1954

Career Position - President, Royal Society of Victoria, Australia

1952 - 1958

Career position - Foundation Member, Geological Society of Australia

c. 1953 -

Career position - Consultant, Broken Hill Geological Committee, Australia

1953 - 1963

Award - Honorary Member, Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy

1954

Award - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) - in recognition of his services to Australia and to Geological Sciences

1954 - 1963

Award - Foundation Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1956 - 1963

Career position - Editor, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria

1958 - 1963

Award - Honorary Member, Geological Society of Australia

1960 - 1963

Award - Life Member, Royal Society of Victoria

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Frank Leslie Stillwell - Records, 1911 - 1961, MS 040; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Smith, Ailie, Adolph Basser Library Manuscript Collection, eScholarship Research Centre, 2012, http://www.eoas.info/basser_browse.html. Details

Books

• Stillwell, F. L., The metamorphic rocks of Adelie Land, section 1 (Adelaide: Government Printer, 1918), 230 pp. Details
• Stillwell, F. L., Amphibolites and related rocks from the moraines, Cape Denison, Adelie Land (Sydney: Government Printer, 1923), 259-80 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Wilcock, Arthur A., 'Stilwell, Frank Leslie (1888-1963), geologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 12: 1891 - 1939 Smy-Z, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1990), pp. 94-95. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120110b.htm. Details

Edited Books

• Hince, Bernadette ed., Still No Mawson: Frank Stillwell's Antarctic Diaries, 1911-1913 (Canberra: Australian Academy of Science, 2012), 240 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Obituary: F.L. Stillwell', Proceedings of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 206 (1963), 1-2. Details
• Anon, 'Antarctica, geology and the Frank Stillwell Collection', Newsletter, Australian Academy of Science, 173 (2023), 4. https://www.science.org.au/academy-newsletter/july-2023-173/antarctica-geology-and-the-frank-stillwell-collection. Details
• Baker, G., 'Memorial to Frank Leslie Stillwell (1888 - 1963)', Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 7 (3) (1964), 45-52. Details
• Hills, E. S., 'Frank Leslie Stillwell', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 1 (1) (1966), 58-66. http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9660110058.htm. Details
• Quilty, Patrick G., 'Early Australian Earth Scientists in the Antarctic, Part 3: the Foundation Laid - Mawson's Men', TAG: Geological Society of Australia Newsletter, 162 (2012), 19-24. Details
• Stillwell, F., 'Memorial to Austin Burton Edwards', American mineralogist, 46 (1961), 488-96. Details
• Stillwell, F. L., 'Obituary: Austin Burton Edwards', Australian Journal of Science, 23 (8) (1961), 260. Details

Resources

• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/93567099. Details
• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5487933. Details
• 'Stillwell, Frank Leslie (1888-1963)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1470737. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Stillwell, Frank Leslie - Ms 40', in Listing of Adolph Basser Library holdings, Australian Academy of Science, 1994, http://www.science.org.au/basser/manuscript-collection/ms040.html. Details
• Hills, E. S., 'Frank Leslie Stillwell 1888-1963', in Australian Academy of Science Biographical Memoirs, Australian Academy of Science, 2006, https://www.science.org.au/fellowship/fellows/biographical-memoirs/frank-leslie-stillwell-1888-1963. Details
• Ward, C., 'Frank Leslie Stillwell', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2011, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/Stillwell-Frank-Leslie. Details

Reviews

• Hince, Bernadette, ed., Still No Mawson: Frank Stillwell's Antarctic Diaries, 1911-1913 (2012)
  Lucas, Anna, Polar Journal, 2, (2012), 463-4. Details
• Hince, Bernadette, ed., Still No Mawson: Frank Stillwell's Antarctic Diaries, 1911-1913 (2012)
  Sharpe, Tom, Polar Record, 49, (2013), e3, http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=8789336&jid=POL&volumeId=49&issueId=01&aid=8789335&fulltextType=BR&fileId=S0032247412000551. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_s.html. Details
• Science and the making of Victoria, with Royal Society of Victoria, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/smv/index_s.html. Details
• Beale, Bob, Engineering a Legacy: Memories of the journey of CSIRO Chemical Engineering (Clayton, Victoria: CSIRO Minerals, 2005), 124 pp. pages 15. Details
• Jensen, David, Mawson's remarkable men: the personal stories of the epic 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expediton (Sydeny: Allen and Unwin, 2015), 183 pp. Details
• Mawer, Granville Allen, South by Northwest: the Magnetic Crusade and the Contest for Antarctica (Kent Town: Wakefield Press, 2006), 319 pp. Details