[1] His father, also called Patrick Stirling,[1] was Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Northern Railway and designer of the 4-2-2 steam locomotive Stirling single that set speed records during the race to the north.
[2][3] Stirling was born in Kilmarnock in 1862 to parents Patrick and Margaret, and had two elder brothers, Robert and Matthew.
[3] With his father entering the employ of the GNR, the family moved to Doncaster, Yorkshire where his sister Jane and brother James were born.
[1] Stirling gave a lifetime of public service to the town, becoming Mayor of Doncaster in 1914.
[1][5] On 29 April 1891 he was married to Sarah Ann Roberts,[6] and died in Doncaster in 1925 aged 63.