Harry Kirk (biologist)

Harry Borrer Kirk (9 March 1859 – 15 July 1948) was a New Zealand school inspector, biologist and university professor.

Harry Borrer Kirk
Born9 March 1859
Coventry, Warwickshire, England
Died15 July 1948
Hamilton, New Zealand
NationalityBritish
OccupationGovernment school inspector, biology professor
Spouse(s)Annie Lamont Kirk (m. 10 July 1885)
ChildrenEthelwyn Gladys Kirk and Hilda Gyneth Kirk Hall
Parent(s)Sarah Jane Mattocks and Thomas Kirk
RelativesThomas William Kirk (brother), and sisters Amy Kirk, Lily May Kirk Atkinson, Cybele Kirk

Public life

He was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, England on 9 March 1859 to Sarah Jane Mattocks and Thomas Kirk. The family emigrated to New Zealand arriving in Auckland on 9 February 1863 and Wellington in 1874 when Thomas Kirk was appointed to Wellington College. Harry studied for University of New Zealand exams at home, gaining a BA in 1882 and a MA 1883, after which he joined the Department of Education first as a clerk and then as an inspector of native schools. As an inspector, he spend almost two decades traveling the country, collecting botanical specimens as he went.[1]

As was typical at the time, Kirk saw Pākehā education as a force for 'elevating' Māori.[2] The 1880 Native Schools Code held that te reo Māori was only to be used to 'learn English more effectively' and Kirk stated in a report:

I think the teacher should cease to use Maori in school when the necessary explanation can be made in English. It is quite likely that the children will readily understand instruction given in Maori and that they will make the greater progress in certain subjects, such as Writing and Arithmetic, but they will not trouble themselves to understand English if the teacher will speak Maori. It is to be borne in mind that English is not only an important subject in itself but that it is a 'key' subject to others.

— Harry Borrer Kirk, The Provision of Education Services to East Coast Maori. John Barrington, August 2007. quote taken from 'Inspection Report, Tikitiki, 15 March 1889.BAAA 1001/640c. ANZ-A. DB.'

In 1903 Kirk was appointed inaugural chair of biology to Victoria College (now Victoria University of Wellington)[3] and he largely devoted the rest of his life to building up the biology capabilities of the university.[1][4][5]

During the First World War he produced several innovations in military camps for to reduce fly contamination,[6] and he is said to have refused a Captain's commission.[7]

Family life

Kirk married Annie Lamont[1] (or La Monte[8]) on 10 July 1885 in Dunedin. They had two children Ethelwin Gladys Kirk (died 1957) and Hilda Gyneth Hall (died 1973), both of whom are buried in Karori Cemetery next to Kirk's parents. His wife Annie died in March 1927. After he retired in 1944, he was cared for by his unmarried sister Cybele Kirk,[9] who had been active, along with their sister Lily May Kirk,[10] in the women's suffrage movement.[1] The family were active in the Baptist Union of New Zealand,[9][10] with Harry being a listed as a Mortgagee in the Baptist Union Incorporation Act 1923[11]

Death

Kirk died at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton on 15 July 1948. He had been at Tauranga with leg fracture which did not heal properly.[12]

Legacy

Two buildings on the Kelburn campus of Victoria University of Wellington are named after Kirk, called the Kirk Building and the Old Kirk Building[13]

Positions
  • Original fellow of the New Zealand Institute (renamed the Royal Society of New Zealand after the royal charter) 1919[1]
  • Wellington Philosophical Society in 1907–1908[1]
  • President of the New Zealand Institute in 1922–23[1]
  • Founding member of the University Reform Association[1]
  • Senate of the University of New Zealand 1915 to 1920[1]
  • Academic board of the University of New Zealand 1930 to 1944[1]
  • chairman of the Committee of Management of the Dominion Museum (new Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa)[1]

References
  1. Salmon, John T. "Harry Borrer Kirk". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  2. TE AUTE AND WANGANUI SCHOOL TRUSTS (REPORT AND EVIDENCE OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE). Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1906 Session II, G-05, page 100-101
  3. "[one] — the college is founded | NZETC".
  4. "Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand [electronic resource]". Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  5. "Harry Borrer Kirk". Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  6. "In Memoriam". Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  7. "Harry Borrer Kirk". Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  8. "Education Department". Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  9. Williams, Dale Ashenden. "Cybele Ethel Kirk". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  10. Porter, Frances. "Lily May Atkinson". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  11. "Baptist Union Incorporation Act 1923". Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  12. "In Memoriam: Harry Borrer Kirk". Tuatara: Journal of the Biological Society. 1 (3). September 1948. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  13. http://www.victoria.ac.nz/about/victorias-story/history/campus-plaques/victoria-campus-plaques.pdf

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