Thomas William Kirk (30 June 1856 – 19 May 1936) was a

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

and a scientific administrator from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He studied the

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

and

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

of New Zealand.

Early life

Thomas William Kirk was born in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, England, on 30 June 1856. He was the eldest surviving son of Sarah Jane Mattocks and Thomas Kirk, and he emigrated to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

with his parents and three other siblings in 1863: an older brother (name unknown); Harry Borrer Kirk, and Amy Kirk. Five other siblings were born in

: Lily May Atkinson and Cybele Ethel Kirk were the only two surviving past childhood. He was educated at St. James' School and Auckland College, then started working on the Geological Survey staff of Sir James Hector in 1874. On 13 December 1883 he married Edith Dixon Callcott (24 October 1859 – 26 July 1938). They had a son, Bernard Callcott Kirk, born 23 April 1888, who served in World War I in the

New Zealand Rifle Brigade The New Zealand Rifle Brigade (Earl of Liverpool's Own), affectionately known as The Dinks, was formed on 1 May 1915 as the third brigade of the New Zealand Division, part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. During the First World War it fough ...

as a Major and then on 7 November 1940 he signed up again, this time a Captain.

Work

T.W. Kirk worked in the New Zealand Geological Survey Department for seventeen years and produced numerous scientific papers published in periodicals such as ''Transactions of the New Zealand Institute'', ''Annuals and Magazines of Natural History'', ''Nature'', ''Science Gossip'', the French ''Journal of Conchology'', and the ''Royal Society of S.A.''. More than ten papers focused on different aspects of marine zoology. During this time he was elected to the New Zealand Institute (1878), the Geological Society of Australasia (1887), the Microscopic Society of London (1889) and became a fellow of the Linnaean Society (1890). His first public appointment was as assistant curator of the Museum at Wellington. In 1892 Kirk was hired in the New Zealand Education Department then transferred to the new Department of Agriculture and began publishing leaflets (many of which he wrote himself) to help educate fruit-growers. Within three years was chief of the division of biology and pomology. Kirk focused on supporting orchardists and managing government programs to put inspectors out in the field. By 1896 he was successful in getting the House of Representatives to pass the Orchards and Garden Pests Act which halted imported plant diseases at the borders. He also supported the development of farming with outreach to growers to learn about market gardening and beekeeping. Kirk conducted the first experiment in biological control of insect pests when he introduced the Australian ladybird beetle ( vedalia) to control the

cottony cushion scale ''Icerya purchasi'' (common name: cottony cushion scale) is a scale insect that feeds on more than 80 families of woody plants, most notably on ''Citrus'' and ''Pittosporum''. Originally described in 1878 from specimens collected in New Zealand a ...

that attacked fruit trees as well as foliage crucial for New Zealand birds. His leadership in the Department of Agriculture provided support for farm exports, loans and cooperative farmer organisations, including the creation in 1916 of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers' Federation. He named various taxa of New Zealand

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

s, including: * '' Cylichna zelandica'' T.W. Kirk, 1880, a

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

Retirement and death

In June 1921 Kirk retired and spent his time working with the groups involved with

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

: he was a past master of Coronation Lodge, a foundation member and first master of Lodge Tawera-o-Kapiti and past senior grand deacon of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand. In 1933 he and Edith celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. By this point they were living in Raumati Beach, a seaside resort northwest of

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. He wrote his will in 1934 in which he gave everything to his wife, Edith, and he provided a yearly stipend to his wife's sister, Lizzie Woodward Callcott. He also directed that some of his estate go to his unmarried sisters Amy Kirk and Cybele Ethel Kirk - to be shared equally with his son Bernard Callcott Kirk, wife Vyvian Dorothy Kirk and grandson Ian Vosper Kirk. He died on 19 May 1936 at his home at Raumati Beach near

Paraparaumu Paraparaumu () is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kapiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. Like other towns in the area, it has a partner settlement at the coast called Paraparaumu Bea ...

. He is buried in Paraparaumu Beach Cemetery in

References

Resources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Thomas William 1856 births 1936 deaths New Zealand malacologists People from Coventry English emigrants to New Zealand 19th-century New Zealand botanists 19th-century New Zealand zoologists New Zealand horticulturists 20th-century New Zealand botanists