Person
Verco, Joseph Cooke (1851 - 1933)
Kt
- Born
- 1 August 1851
Fullarton, South Australia, Australia - Died
- 29 July 1933
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia - Occupation
- Physician, University Administrator and Conchologist
Summary
Sir Joseph Verco practised medicine in South Australia from 1878. In 1885 he helped found the Medical School of the University of Adelaide and lectured in medicine 1887-1915. His medical research resulted in publications on hydatids and the prevalence of tuberculosis in South Australia. On retirement he revived his interest in shells. Verco was Honorary Curator of Molluscs at the South Australian Museum from 1914 to 1933, his field work including substantial dredging in the Great Australian Bight. In publishing on molluscs for nearly 40 years he described over 160 new species of marine animals. Verco was generous with his philanthropic donations: to the Adelaide Children's Hospital; to the South Australian Museum, to which he donated his extensive collection of specimens and books in 1926; and to the Medical Sciences Club of South Australia which allowed the inauguration of the Australian journal of experimental biology and medical science. The Sir Joseph Verco Medal has been awarded by the Royal Society of South Australia since 1929 to recognise distinguished scientific investigations carried out by a member of the Society.
Details
Chronology
- 1874
- Education - Member, Royal College of Surgeons, London
- 1875
- Education - MB, University of London
- 1875
- Education - Licentiate, Royal College of Physicians, London
- 1876
- Education - Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons, London
- 1876
- Education - BS, University of London
- 1876
- Education - MD, University of London
- 1876 - 1878
- Career position - House physician, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London
- 1878 - 1880
- Award - Fellow, Adelaide Philosophical Society
- 1880 - 1933
- Award - Fellow, Royal Society of South Australia
- 1882 - 1912
- Career position - Honorary physician to the Adelaide Hospital
- 1886 - 1887
- Career position - President, South Australian Branch, British Medical Association
- 1887
- Career position - President, First Intercolonial Medical Congress of Australasia, Adelaide
- 1887 - 1919
- Career position - Lecturer in Medicine, University of Adelaide
- 1895 - 1902
- Career position - Member of Council, University of Adelaide
- 1903 - 1921
- Career position - President, Royal Society of South Australia
- 1914 - 1919
- Career position - President, South Australian Branch, British Medical Association
- 1914 - 1933
- Career position - Honorary Curator of Mollusca, South Australian Institute
- 1919
- Career event - Retired from medical practice
- 1919
- Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt)
- 1919 - 1921
- Career position - Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Adelaide
- 1921 - 1928
- Career position - Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Adelaide
Related entries
Archival resources
South Australian Museum Archives
- Joseph Cooke Verco - Records, 1914 - 1933; South Australian Museum Archives. Details
State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana
- Joseph Cooke Verco - Records, 1851 - 1924, PRG 322; State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details
- Royal Society of South Australia - Records, 1853 - 1969, SRG 10; State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details
The University of Adelaide Archives
- Joseph Cooke Verco - Records, 1885 - 1915; The University of Adelaide Archives. Details
Published resources
Books
- Verco, J., Combing the Southern Seas (Adelaide: Rigby Ltd, 1935). Details
- Verco, P. W., Masons, millers and medicine: James Crabb Verco and his sons (Adelaide: P. W. Verco, 1976), 159 pp. Details
Book Sections
- Southcott, R. V., 'Verco, Sir Joseph Cooke (1851-1933), physician and conchologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 12: 1891 - 1939 Smy-Z, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1990), pp. 318-319. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120355b.htm. Details
Journal Articles
- Cotton, B. C., 'Obituary and bibliography of conchological works of Sir Joseph Cooke Verco', South Australian Naturalist, 14 (4) (1933), 121-4. Details
- Macphail, M. K.; and Zeidler, W., 'Additional type shells from Tasmania in the South Australian Museum', The Tasmanian naturalist, 52 (1978), 2-6. Details
- R., W., 'Sir Joseph Cooke Verco', Australian journal of experimental biology and medical science, 11 (1933), 153-5. Details
- Roach, B. S., 'Obituary notice Sir Joseph Verco (1851-1933)', Transactions and report of the Royal Society of South Australia, 57 (1933), v-viii. Details
- Verco, J. C., 'Sir Edward Stirling, Kt, CMG, FRS, MA, MD, FRCS, CMZS. A Note of Appreciation', Medical Journal of Australia, 1 (1919), 298-299. Details
- Verco, J. C., 'A colonial boy-hood: some recollections of Joseph Cooke Verco, 1858 - 1867', South Australiana, 2 (2) (1963), 61-100. Details
- Verco, Jos. C., 'Obituary notice: (Sir E. C. Stirling)', Transactions and proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia, 43 (1919), 1-4. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6287602. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/93515216. Details
- 'Verco, Jos C (1851-1933)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-572640. Details
- Rice, Tom, 'Verco, Joseph Cooke (1851 - 1933)', Shellers from the past and the present, Conchology Inc., Mactan Island, Philippines, 2023, https://www.conchology.be/?t=9001&id=30908. Details
Theses
- Jennings, Reece, 'The medical profession and the state in South Australia, 1836-1975', M.D, University of Adelaide, 1998. https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/handle/2440/38334. Details
See also
- Barbalet, Margaret, The Adelaide Children's Hospital, 1876-1976 (North Adelaide: The Hospital, 1975), 224 pp. Details
- Hale, H. M., 'The First Hundred Years of the Museum, 1856-1956', Records of the South Australian Museum, 12 (1956), 1-225. Details
- Hughes, James Estcourt, A History of the Royal Adelaide Hospital (Adelaide: Board of Management, Royal Adelaide Hospital, 1982), 240 pp. Details
- Ryan, James, Sutton, Keith and Baigent, Malcolm eds, Australasian Radiology: a History (Sydney: McGraw-Hill, 1996), 542 pp. Details
- Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details
Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 6 October 2023
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education