[1] She and Clarke supplemented their modest door takings by offering musical tuition.
[3] She left Tasmania in 1845 and initiated a successful career as an actor and opera singer in Sydney, where she was engaged at the Victoria Theatre.
She was one of few female singers regarded to be able to rival the prima donna Marie Carandini, and their rivalry onstage was reported in the press.
[citation needed] After leaving her engagement in Sydney, she started a famed travelling family company with her third husband, which toured Australia and India and in which she played a leading part.
Stirling died at her home, 251 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne on 19 July 1904[8] and was buried in Boroondara Cemetery, Kew.