Major Aubrey Neil Weinman,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

CMZS (1897–10 August 1967) was a Ceylonese

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

. He was the first Director of the Colombo Zoological Gardens (1947-1962).

Early life

Weinman was born in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, the son of William Algernon Weinman (1869-1922), a stationmaster, and Caroline Maud née Reimers (1872-1961). He attended school at the

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...

, where he was a sergeant in the Cadet Corps. Following the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he traveled to England in April 1918 to join the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. In November he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

, of the 9th Bhopal Infantry. He saw action on the western front and was wounded in battle. After the war he remained in the reserves.

Career

He joined the government service and was appointed the second Superintendent of the Colombo Zoological Gardens after it was established in 1939, following the liquidation of Zoological Garden Company in 1936. During his service, new programs included introducing more native and foreign species, education and conservation programs, and improving the facilities and infrastructure. With the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the far east, Weinman was mobilised for service as a

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

with the

under the

Malaya Command The Malaya Command was a formation of the British Army formed in the 1920s for the coordination of the defences of British Malaya, which comprised the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States and the Unfederated Malay States. It consi ...

. He became a

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

after the

fall of Singapore The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. S ...

. He spent four years in a

prisoner of war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, ...

and was liberated at war's end. On his return he became the inaugural Director of the Colombo Zoological Gardens and remained there until his retirement in 1962. He was awarded an

as part of the 1954 New Year Honours.Ceylon list:

Personal life

After retirement, he moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

with his wife Ena née van Cuylenberg and son David. He died in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

in 1967.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weinman, Aubrey 1897 births 1967 deaths Sri Lankan civil servants Ceylonese military personnel Ceylonese prisoners of war in World War II Officers of the Order of the British Empire British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War II Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Sri Lankan emigrants to Australia Ceylonese military personnel of World War I Ceylonese military personnel of World War II British Indian Army officers