Lancelot Eric Richdale (4 January 1900 – 19 December 1983) was a New Zealand

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and amateur

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 ...

Biography

Born at

Marton, New Zealand Marton () is a town in the Rangitikei District, Rangitikei district of the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is situated 35 kilometres southeast of Whanganui and 40 kilometres northwest of Palmerston North. Ngāti Ap ...

and educated in

Wanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest nav ...

, Richdale became a teacher based in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

after obtaining a diploma in 1922 from

Hawkesbury Agricultural College Hawkesbury Agricultural College was the first agricultural college in New South Wales, Australia, based in Richmond. It operated from 1891 to 1989. History It was established on 10 March 1891, and formally opened by Minister for Mines and Agric ...

near Sydney, Australia. Richdale's main ornithological interest was in seabirds, especially

penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

s and

petrel Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the phylogenetic order Procellariiformes. Description Petrels are a monophyletic group of marine seabirds, sharing a characteristic of a nostril arrangement that results in the name "tubenoses". Petrels enco ...

s, and he was engaged in long-term studies of various species for most of his life. He was the driving force to gain protection for the colony of

northern royal albatross The northern royal albatross or toroa, (''Diomedea sanfordi'') is a large seabird in the albatross family. It was split from the closely related southern royal albatross as recently as 1998, though not all scientists support that conclusion and s ...

es at

Taiaroa Head Taiaroa Head is a headland at the end of the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand, overlooking the mouth of the Otago Harbour. It lies within the city limits of Dunedin. The nearest settlement, Otakou, lies three kilometres to the south. The cape is ...

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

, after discovering the first successful fledgling there in 1938. Richdale completed a Master's degree at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

in 1935, with a thesis on the history of agricultural education in New Zealand. Although his fieldwork was carried out in southern New Zealand, he spent some time studying overseas, as a

Fulbright Fellow The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

(1950–1951), as a Nuffield Research Fellow at the Edward Grey Institute for Bird Research (1952–1955) and, after retirement, again as a Nuffield Fellow, at the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity and organization devoted to the worldwide animal conservation, conservation of animals and their habitat conservation, habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained London Zo ...

(1960–1963). He was a member 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 ...

(RAOU) and contributed numerous papers to its journal, the ''

Emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

'' as well as to several other scientific journals. He produced a series of popular booklets about New Zealand birds as well as a series of biological monographs to publish the results of his research. In addition, he authored two major books,
Sexual Behavior in Penguins
' (University of Kansas Press, 1951), and ''A Population Study of Penguins'' (Clarendon Press, 1957). His publications earned him a

DSc DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

from the

University of New Zealand A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in 1952, and in 1953 he was awarded the

Hector Memorial Medal The Hector Medal, formerly known as the Hector Memorial Medal, is a science award given by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in memory of Sir James Hector to researchers working in New Zealand. It is awarded annually in rotation for different scienc ...

by the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

, for services to ornithology, in the 1982 Queen's Birthday Honours. Richdale died in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

in 1983. In 2016, Richdale's archival documents of his ornithological studies, held in the

Hocken Collections Hocken Collections (, formerly the Hocken Library) is a research library, historical archive, and Art museum, art gallery based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Its library collection, which is of national significance, is administered by the University ...

in Dunedin, were included in the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand Ngā Mahara o te Ao Register is a national register of New Zealand's documentary heritage as part of the Memory of the World Programme, maintained by UNESCO Aotearoa New Zealand Memory of the World Trust. ...

References

*Fleming, Charles; & Warham, John. (1985). Launcelot Eric Richdale, OBE, (1900-1983). ''Emu'' 85: 53–54. *

External links

Sexual Behavior in Penguins
(University of Kansas Press, 1951). 316 p. illus., map. 24 cm. Bibliography. Open access full-text PDF file. {{DEFAULTSORT:Richdale, Lancelot Eric 1900 births 1983 deaths New Zealand ornithologists Scientists from Dunedin People from Marton, New Zealand New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century New Zealand zoologists Western Sydney University alumni Cornell University alumni University of New Zealand alumni Schoolteachers from Dunedin University of Otago alumni