| Man of action, naval officer, able administrator, skilled diplomat – James Stirling’s distinguished and multi-faceted career carried him to the four corners of the nineteenth century world in the service of the British Empire.
This ambitious biography, seven years in the making, breaks new ground in documenting Stirling's path from birth into one of Scotland's oldest families, through to founder and Governor of the Swan River Colony and, ultimately to Admiral and British naval chief in East Asia.
Drawing on fresh archival material, author Pamela Statham-Drew has fashioned an intricate tapestry of engrossing opportunism, wars, British naval superiority and shifting political alliances.
During his naval career Stirling commanded five different vessels, taking him to the Americas, on voyages of exploration and settlement in Australia's west and north, to diplomatic intrigue in the Mediterranean, and finally to Hong Kong and Japan where he engineered a significant new treaty.
Stirling's place in history has until now been questioned and over-simplified - particularly regarding his contentious West Australian land grants. This absorbing biography seeks to readdress this bias while, at the same time, revealing much about the human face and foibles of the man remembered today as the founder of the state of Western Australia.
Contents
Foreword
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Conversion Table
1. The Formative Years 1791-1805
2. Naval Training: An Eye for Details
3. First Command: HMS 'Brazen' 1812-1818
4. Mangles, Marriage and a New Challenge
5. Second Command: HMS 'Success' 1826-1828
6. Swan River Explored
7. Melville Island and Home
8. Assault on Downing Street
9. Preparations and the 'Parmelia'
10. Swan River Colony: First Six Months
11. Uncertain Prospects, 1830
12. A Dismal Year, 1831
13. A Turning Point, 1832
14. The Interim Return
15. A House and a Battle, 1834
16. A More Stable State
17. Dissention and Exploration, 1836
18. Signs of Prosperity, 1837
19. The Glenelg Regulations
20. Penultimate Concerns, 1838
21. A Year of Transition, 1839
22. The Australind Adventure
23. Third Command: HMS 'Indus' 1841-1843
24. A Gentleman's Estate
25. Fourth Command: HMS 'Howe' 1847-1850
26. Belmont and Family Tribulations
27. Fifth Command: HMS 'Winchester' 1854-1856
28. Pirates, Rebels and Russians
29. From Treaty Ratification to Resignation
30. A Welcome Retirement 1856-1860
31. Final Years: An Enduring Legacy
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
Reviews:
'Pamela Statham-Drew has filled one of the great gaps in Western Australian history by writing this biography of the founding Governor, Sir James Stirling. In what many will regard as her masterpiece, she presents Stirling as an adventurous, resilient character whose optimism and willpower carried the infant Swan River to survival. By setting Stirling and his colony in their international context she adds new insight into our early history.' - Professor Geoffrey Bolton |
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