Helen Alice Jane Brotherton,

CBE 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 ...

BEM (9 February 1914 – 6 August 2009) was an English conservationist. She was founder of the

Dorset Wildlife Trust Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) is a wildlife trust covering the county of Dorset, United Kingdom. The trust was founded in 1961 as Dorset Naturalists' Trust, to protect and conserve the wildlife and natural habitats of the county. DWT is one of 4 ...

Early life and education

Helen Brotherton was born at Harscott in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, and raised at

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

, the daughter of Eric and Helen Jakeman Brotherton. She trained as a teacher at

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, sharing its SW15 postcode with neighbouring Putney and Kingston Vale, and takes up a far western strip, running north to south, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large counc ...

.Michael J. Allen
"Brotherton, Helen Alice Jane (1914–2009)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press, Jan 2013; online edition, May 2013). Brownsea Island Sign

Career

Her first teaching job was at

Norwich High School for Girls Norwich High School for Girls is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for girls aged 3 to 18 in Norwich, United Kingdom, Norwich, England. The school was founded in 1875 by the Girls' Public Day School Company, Girls’ Pu ...

. During World War II, she joined the

Women's Voluntary Service The Royal Voluntary Service (known as the Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) from 1938 to 1966; Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) from 1966 to 2004 and WRVS from 2004 to 2013) is a voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need ...

, and eventually ran the Sick Bays in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, for which she received the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

in 1943. She moved to

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, after the war, to care for her aging mother. An avid birdwatcher, she volunteered with the Dorset Field Ornithology Group, and through that group learned of the specific environmental issues in Dorset. She sailed her own boat to

Brownsea Island Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour in the county of Dorset, England. The island is owned by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust with the northern half managed by the Do ...

for explorations, against the ban on public access, issued and enforced by the island's reclusive owner,

Mary Bonham-Christie Mary Bonham-Christie (; 23 July 1865 – 28 April 1961) called "the Demon of Brownsea", was the reclusive owner of Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, Dorset from 1927 until her death in 1961. Family background Mary Florence Whitburn was born in W ...

. In the early 1960s, after Bonham-Christie's death, Brotherton organized a group to oppose development on Brownsea Island, because the planned development would threaten a wading birds habitat. Because of her group's efforts, the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

took ownership of Brownsea, and the group developed into the Dorset Wildlife Trust.Hester Lacey
"Brownsea-Dorset Island Life"
''Kent Life'' (19 February 2010), Retrieved 24 August 2016 Helen Brotherton was the Trust's first and longtime secretary. In 1963, she was appointed an OBE for her environmental work. Brotherton worked with the coastal protection project "Operation Neptune" as the National Trust's regional representative in Wessex. In 1984, she was appointed a

for this activism. She founded the Portland Bird Observatory, was a trustee of the Chesil and Fleet Trust. In 1992, she received the Christopher Cadbury medal from the

Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts The Wildlife Trusts, the trading name of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, is an organisation made up of 46 local Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Alderney. The Wildlife Trusts, between them, look after more than 2, ...

, and in 2007 she won the Octavia Hill medal for her lifetime achievements in environmental conservation."Wildlife Champion Passes Away"
''Dorset Wildlife Trust'' (6 August 2009).

Personal life and legacy

As a side interest, Helen Brotherton contributed funds to the Salisbury Diocesan Guild of Ringers, to purchase bells in memory of her brother, Roderic Brotherton, who died in World War II. Helen Brotherton died in 2009, aged 95 years, at

Poole Hospital Poole Hospital (also known as Poole General Hospital) is an acute general hospital in Poole, Dorset, England. Built in 1907, it has expanded from a basic 14-bed facility into a 789-bed hospital. It is the trauma centre for east Dorset and provi ...

. At the time of her death, the Dorset Wildlife Trust had over 25,000 members. The Dorset Wildlife Trust presents a Helen Brotherton Award for Volunteering, begun in 2008 and named in her honor. In 2013, the

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The Episcopal see, see is in the Salisbur ...

dedicated a memorial to Helen Brotherton, in St. Mary's Church on Brownsea Island."Celebrating 50 Years on Brownsea Island"
St. Peter's Parkstone (6 June 2013).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brotherton, Helen 1914 births 2009 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English conservationists People from Lincolnshire Recipients of the British Empire Medal People from Leamington Spa