Joseph Coles Kirby
Encyclopedia
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1854. In 1864, Kirby was ordained in the Congregational Church
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
es and then ministered to rural and city congregations in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and supported or lead many causes for social reform such as the temperance movement
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
, women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
and raising the age of consent
Ages of consent in Australia and Oceania
The ages of consent for sexual activity vary by jurisdiction across Australia, New Zealand and Oceania. The specific activity engaged in or the gender of its participants can also be affected by the law. Below is a discussion of the various laws dealing with this subject...
to 16 in Australia.
Early life
Kirby was born in BuckinghamBuckingham
Buckingham is a town situated in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. The town has a population of 11,572 ,...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on 10 June 1837 to John and Mary (née Coles) Kirby. Educated at Sibford School
Sibford School
Sibford School is a British co-educational independent school in Sibford Ferris, west of Banbury in Oxfordshire, linked with the Religious Society of Friends. The school has both day and boarding pupils between the ages of 3 and 18.-Overview:...
which was a Quaker boarding school in Sibford Ferris
Sibford Ferris
Sibford Ferris is a village and civil parish about west of Banbury in Oxfordshire, sited on one side of the Sib valley.The Manor House was built in the 17th century and remodelled in the 18th century. In 1842 the Society of Friends extended the house and converted it into a boarding school,...
, the young Kirby inherited his mothers concern for social reform which would shape his later life. At 13 he entered his father's flour-milling business but always loved reading and had a passion for self-improvement.
Migration to Sydney
The family migrated to Sydney in 1954 when his father's business went bankrupt but the 17 year old Kirby was able to find work at another flour-mill in Sydney. It was in Sydney that he joined the Pitt Street Congregational ChurchPitt Street Uniting Church
The Pitt Street Uniting Church is located in Pitt Street, Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1833, the congregation became the mother church of Congregationalism in NSW.-History:...
where the members at that time included David Jones (founder of David Jones Limited
David Jones Limited
David Jones Limited , colloquially known as DJs, is a high-end Australian department store chain.David Jones was founded in 1838 by David Jones, a Welsh immigrant, and is claimed to be the oldest continuously operating department store in the world still trading under its original name. It...
), John Fairfax
John Fairfax
John Fairfax , English-born journalist, is notable for the incorporation of the major newspapers of modern day Australia.-Early life:...
and Rev. John West. Here Kirby criticised the dominant social groups in New South Wales and advocated total abstinence.
Early Ministry in Queensland
Kirby received his ministerial training from Rev. B. Quaife and was called as assistant minister at Ipswich, QueenslandIpswich, Queensland
Ipswich is a city in South-East Queensland, Australia. Situated along the Bremer River Valley approximately 40 kilometres away from the state's capital Brisbane. The suburb by the same name forms the city's Central Business District and administrative centre...
in 1863. In 1864 he was ordained and became a Congregational Minister at Dalby
Dalby, Queensland
Dalby is a town in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, and is located approximately west of the state capital, Brisbane, at the junction of the Warrego, Moonie and Bunya Highways. Dalby is the administrative centre of the Western Downs Region and the centre of Australia's richest...
in Queensland. It was here in Dalby that he married Margaretta Hall.
Ministry in New South Wales
From 1871 to 1877, Kirby was the pastor of the Congregational Church in Woollahra, New South WalesWoollahra, New South Wales
Woollahra is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is located 5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra. The Municipality of Woollahra takes its name from the...
. During this time he was active within the community, supporting the Public Schools League's campaign for free, compulsory secular education and campaigning for the temperance movement
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
. Kirby took over the church extension work of the Congregational Union of New South Wales in 1877 and was chairman of the Union in for two years in 1879-80. As chairman he attacked academicism in the ministry and advocated stronger central initiative in home missions and acceptance of land from the government to build new churches.
Ministry in South Australia
In 1880 he was called to the Port Adelaide Congregational ChurchPort Adelaide Uniting Church
thumb|The Port Adelaide Uniting Church in 2005.The Port Adelaide Uniting Church is located in the western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia...
after the previous minister died of tuberculosis. Kirby started the Young Christians' Union, the Young Men's Christian Society here and, through his assiduous work campaigning and ministry, was able to bring his denomination solidly behind temperance
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
, Women's Suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
and social reform.
While still the minister of the Port Adelaide church, Kirby became secretary of the Social Purity Society in 1882 and spent time in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
advocating temperance and women's suffrage. In 1885 he won ecumenical support in a campaign to raise the age of consent in Australia from 13 to 16.
In 1886 and 1906 Kirby was the chairman of the Congregational Union of South Australia and from 1910 to 1913 was the chairman of the Congregation Union of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. In 1891 he had been an Australian representative at the first International Congregational Council in London. During this trip he travelled Europe and India.
Final Years
In 1915 Kirby was the leader in the successful campaign for 6 o'clock closingSix o'clock swill
The six o'clock swill was an Australian and New Zealand slang term for the last-minute rush to buy drinks at a hotel bar before it closed. During a significant part of the 20th century, most Australian and New Zealand hotels shut their public bars at 6 p.m. A culture developed of heavy drinking...
of hotel bars. Kirby also supported religious instruction in state schools and helped persuade the South Australian Congregational Union to abandon its insistence upon purely secular instruction. Later, he promoted Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
protection and was an advocate of an Aboriginal reserve in Arnhem land. Although deeply devoted to the Bible and opposing any criticism of it, Kirby was open minded towards Darwinism
Darwinism
Darwinism is a set of movements and concepts related to ideas of transmutation of species or of evolution, including some ideas with no connection to the work of Charles Darwin....
and eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
.
Kirby died 1 August 1924 in Semaphore, South Australia
Semaphore, South Australia
Semaphore is a north-western seaside suburb of Adelaide of the LeFevre Peninsula 14km from the CBD, in the state of South Australia, Australia and falls under the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. It is adjacent to Semaphore South, Glanville, Exeter and Largs Bay. The postcode for Semaphore is 5019...
, survived by two sons and three daughters.