Cumbrae-Stewart, F. W. S. (Francis William Sutton), 1865-1938

Variant names

Dates:

Birth 1865

Death 1938

Biographical notes:

F W S Cumbrae-Stewart was a Professor of Law at the University of Queensland.

From the description of OM75-32 F W S Cumbrae-Stewart Papers, 1919. (Libraries Australia). WorldCat record id: 755734143

Professor Cumbrae-Stewart, historian and lawyer, became the first Registrar of the University of Queensland in 1910. He was appointed Garrick Professor of Law in 1925 and was made a K.C. in 1927. Universally known as Cumbrae, he was a commanding figure with an erect military bearing and a fiercely waxed moustache. Energetic and intensely curious, Cumbrae-Stewart was a voracious reader and a compulsive writer. By 1925 he was a founder and president of the Historical Society of Queensland and editor of its journal. He was president of the Queensland branch of the Dickens Fellowship, chairman of the Queensland Place Names Committee, vice-president of the Queensland Authors and Artists Association, and a founder and trustee of the Oxley Memorial Library. For many years he regularly contributed to the Saturday edition of the Brisbane Courier and gave short radio talks.

Francis' wife Zina was a deeply committed evangelical Anglican who devoted her life to community and charitable service. She was an executive member of the Australian Red Cross in Queensland for twenty-two years and won its long service medal. She became an original member of the Mother's Union and was its president for nine years. President of the National Council of Women in Queensland in 1926-35, she led campaigns against the exploitation of children and for domestic science education. Mrs Cumbrae-Stewart was usually on the executive of the twenty or more societies to which she belonged. A fluent speaker, she delivered radio talks and speeches on a variety of subjects. Biographical history compiled with the assistance of the Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 8, University of Melbourne Press, 1981, pp. 170-172.

From the description of 5745 Cumbrae-Stewart Family Papers, 1906-1983. (Libraries Australia). WorldCat record id: 755790082