Alan John "Jock" Marshall (17 February 1911 – 20 July 1967) was an Australian

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

. Marshall was born in

Redfern, New South Wales Redfern is an Southern Sydney, inner southern suburb of Sydney located south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Sydney. Strawberry Hills is a locality ...

. Despite having lost an arm in a shooting accident at the age of sixteen, he was active in several natural history expeditions, and had a distinguished service record during World War II in New Guinea, 1941–1945. He was Reader in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

and comparative

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

St Bartholomew's Medical College Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical school, medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, 1949–1960, and foundation professor of zoology and comparative

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

, then Dean of Science, at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

1960–1967. Marshall died in

Heidelberg, Victoria Heidelberg () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, northeast of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Banyule local government area. Heidelberg recorded a population of 7,360 at the 2021 census. Once a ...

. During his lifetime, he published numerous books and scientific papers and had been awarded the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

Back Award The Back Award, also referred to as the Back Grant, was first given by the Royal Geographical Society in 1882 for "applied or scientific geographical studies which make an outstanding contribution to the development of national or international pub ...

in 1948. He was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union The Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU), now part of BirdLife Australia, was Australia's largest non-government, non-profit, bird conservation organisation. It was founded in 1901 to promote the study and conservation of the native b ...

in 1958. He will be remembered by older generations of radio listeners as "Jock the Backyard Naturalist", a regular on the Argonauts Club until 1946.

Legacy

The Jock Marshall Reserve, an ecological research facility which he established at the Clayton campus of

, is named after him.

Publications

*Marshall, Alan John. (1937). ''The Black Musketeers. The Work and Adventures of a Scientist on a South Sea Island at War and in Peace''. William Heinemann: London. *Marshall, Alan John. (1938). ''The Men and Birds of Paradise. Journeys through Equatorial New Guinea''. William Heinemann: London. *Marshall, Alan John. (1942). ''Australia Limited''. Angus & Robertson: Sydney. *Marshall, Alan John. (1954). ''Bower-birds, their displays and breeding cycles. A preliminary statement''. Clarendon Press: Oxford, U.K. *Marshall, Alan John. (1970). ''Darwin and Huxley in Australia''. Hodder & Stoughton: Sydney. *Marshall, Alan John. (Ed). (1966). ''The Great Extermination. A guide to Anglo-Australian Cupidity, Wickedness and Waste''. Heinemann: Melbourne. *Marshall, Alan John; & Drysdale, Russell. (1966). ''Journey Among Men''. Sun Books: Melbourne.

References

*Robin, Libby. (2001). ''The Flight of the Emu: a hundred years of Australian ornithology 1901-2001''. Carlton, Vic. Melbourne University Press.

External links

Jock Marshall: One Armed Warrior- Bright Sparcs Exhibition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Alan John Australian ornithologists Australian military personnel of World War II 1911 births 1967 deaths Alumni of the Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital Australian science writers 20th-century Australian zoologists