Celebrating the Life of Syd Kirkby
13th June 1933 – 7th July 2024
The life of an extraordinary Australian
Syd Kirkby AO, MBE
will be celebrated on
Saturday 24th August 2024
1.30pm – 4.00pm.
Kureelpa and Dulong Community Hall
Sunshine Coast Hinterland
– Notified by email from Kevin Campbell 26 July 2024
See below for the many contributions, achievements and recognitions during Syd Kirkby’s distinguished career
Station | Year | Season |
Mawson | 1956 | Winter |
Mawson | 1960 | Winter |
Oates/Victoria Lands Explorations | 1961-62 | Summer |
King George V Land Exploration | 1962-63 | Summer |
Enderby Land | 1964-65 | Summer |
Mawson | 1980 | Winter |
Commitment to the ANARE Club
Sydney (Syd) Lorrimar Kirkby, AO, MBE joined the ANARE Club in 1957, and served as ANARE Club President 2005-07.
In 1999 Syd Kirkby was elected a Life Member of the ANARE Club.
The Phillip Law Medal was awarded to Syd Kirkby on 15 August 2020.
Contributions to Aurora Journal
ARTICLE TITLE | AUTHOR | VOL | NO | PAGE | Journal / Link |
Mawson Winterers Syd Kirkby, Ian Bird | 43 | 4 | 11 | Aurora Journal Winter 2024 | |
Law Medal for Syd Kirkby | 40 | 1 | 4 | Aurora Journal Spring 2020 | |
Book Review: Fixing Antarctica (mapping the frozen south), By Syd Kirkby | Bill Burch | 33 | 4 | 11 | Aurora Journal Winter 2014 |
Book Review: Chill Out, By Brian Gaull | Syd Kirkby | 34 | 2 | 9 | Aurora Journal Summer 2014 |
Book Review: Putting South Georgia on the Map by Alec Trendall | Syd Kirkby | 31 | 1 | 16 | Aurora Journal Spring 2011 |
Sledging the Prince Charles Mountains | Syd Kirkby | 29 | 1 | 6 | Aurora Journal Spring 2009 |
Northern Prince Charles sketches and maps | Syd Kirkby | 29 | 1 | I B C | Aurora Journal Spring 2009 |
Stalwarts of early ANARE: Syd Kirkby | Dave Carstens | 23 | 1 | 6 | Aurora Journal Spring 2003 |
Letter: Inclusion in The Living Century as an adventurer | Syd Kirkby | 19 | 2 | 2 | Aurora Journal Summer 1999 |
The Spirit of ANARE | Syd Kirkby | 17 | 1 | 2 | Aurora Journal Spring 1997 |
Better than the movies? Antarctica on the Really Big Screen | Syd Kirkby | 15 | 4 | 2 | Aurora Journal Winter 1996 |
Mapping Prince Charles Mountains – Starting from Scratch: Part 2 | Syd Kirkby | 11 | 1 | 8 | Aurora Journal Spring 1991 |
Mapping Prince Charles Mountains – Starting from Scratch : Part 1 | Syd Kirkby | 10 | 4 | 25 | Aurora Journal Winter 1991 |
Dogs to the Rescue [Mawson 1960] | Syd Kirkby | 8 | 1 | 11 | Aurora Journal Spring 1988 |
The Second Eleven | Syd Kirkby | 8 | 1 | 15 | Aurora Journal Spring 1988 |
A Jolly in Enderby Land | Syd Kirkby | 6 | 3 | 12 | Aurora Journal Autumn 1987 |
The Joys of Dog Sledging – 20 years on | Syd Kirkby | 3 | 1 | Aurora Journal Autumn 1982 |
Awards and Recognition
Award | Year |
Polar Medal | 1958 |
Member of the Order of the British Empire | 1966 |
Gold Medal of the Australian Geographic Society as Adventurer of the Year | 1997 |
Nominated by the The Australian newspaper as one of the ten greatest Australian adventurers of the 20th century | 1999 |
John Park Thomson (Founder’s) Medal, the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, Queensland Branch | 2002 |
Officer of the Order of Australia | 2018 |
Phillip Law Medal (ANARE Club) | 2020 |
Antarctic Place Names
Kirkby Glacier – A glacier at least 18 miles long, flowing northwards to the coast three miles of Cape North. Named by ANARE after S L Kirkby, surveyor, with the ANARE 1962, lead by Phillip Law, which explored this area. [Reference]
Kirkby Head – A sheer coastal outcrop on Tange Promontory, Enderby Land. Continental ice reaches almost to the top on its southern side. Plotted from air photographs taken from an ANARE aircraft in 1956. First visited by an ANARE party led by SL Kirkby in November, 1960. Named after SL Kirkby, surveyor at Mawson in 1960. [Reference]
Kirkby Shoal – A small shoal area with depths of less than 18 m extending about 140 m westwards and SSW, about 3.4 km from the summit of Shirley Island, Windmill Islands. Discovered and charted during a hydrographic survey of Newcomb Bay and approaches by d’A.T. Gale hydrographic surveyor, with the ANARE Expedition on the MV Thala Dan, 1962, led by Phillip Law. Named after S.L. Kirkby, surveyor with the expedition. [Reference]
Mount Kirkby – A very large, prominent, flat-topped mountain on the northern face of the Porthos Range in the Prince Charles Mountains. It is approximately 9 km long east-west and 4 km wide at the western end, tapering to the east. It rises to approximately 2,100m (about 460 m above the plateau). First visited by the ANARE southern party led by William G. Bewsher in December, 1956. Named after S.L. Kirkby, surveyor at Mawson in 1956 and 1960. [Reference]