Norman Boyd Kinnear
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Sir Norman Boyd Kinnear (11 August 1882 – 11 August 1957) was a
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
zoologist and ornithologist.


Early life

Kinnear was the younger son of wealthy
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
architect Charles George Hood Kinnear and his wife, Jessie Jane, and came from the same banking family ( Thomas Kinnear & Company) as Sir William Jardine (Kinnear's great-grandfather). Kinnear studied at Edinburgh Academy before moving to
Trinity College, Glenalmond Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond, Perth and Kinross, River Almond near the village of Methven, Pert ...
. He worked as an assistant in an estate in Lanarkshire before he followed his interest in natural history and volunteered at the Royal Scottish Museum with W. Eagle Clarke in 1905–1907. He joined Eagle Clarke to Fair Isle. In 1907, he went aboard a whaling ship around Greenland to collect bird specimens.


Career

On a recommendation by
William Eagle Clarke Dr William Eagle Clarke ISO FLS FRSE PBOU Doctor of Laws, LL.D. (16 March 1853 – 10 May 1938) was a British ornithologist. Life Clarke was born in Leeds where his father William Clarke was a solicitor and educated at the Grammar School and at ...
, he went to India to become curator of the museum of the
Bombay Natural History Society The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants and publ ...
(BNHS), a position he held from 1 November 1907 to November 1919. He was also assistant editor of the '' Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society''. In 1913, he married Gwendolen Beatrice Millard, daughter of Edinburgh physician William Wright Millard, a relative of Walter Samuel Millard at the BNHS. He helped the BNHS organize its survey of Indian mammals which were begun around 1911. When the First World War broke out, he attempted to join the Indian army. He served briefly in the Bombay volunteer rifles and as an intelligence officer in the defense of Bombay port between 1915 and 1919. During this time, he prepared a booklet on the animals of Mesopotamia.


Natural History Museum

In 1920 he returned to Britain and became an assistant in the Department of Zoology at the
Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...
, becoming Keeper of Zoology in 1945. Aged 65 in August 1947, then the normal age of retirement, the trustees decided to appoint Kinnear as director of the museum. He was appointed a CB in 1948. He retired on 30 April 1950 and was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
in June of that year.


Board memberships and other activities

Kinnear was editor of the ''
Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club The ''Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club'' is an ornithology, ornithological scientific journal, journal published by the British Ornithologists' Club (BOC). It is citation, cited as ''Bull. B. O. C.'' Many descriptions of birds Bird sp ...
'' from 1925 to 1930 and president of the
British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds (ornithology) around the world in order to understand their biology and aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry Baker ...
(which he joined when he was 20) from 1943 to 1948. He was a member of the International Council for Bird Preservation from 1935 and was involved in the drafting of the Protection of Birds Act of 1954. He served on the Councils of the National Trust and the Zoological Society. He was a fellow of the Linnean Society of London. He had a great interest in the writings of the naturalists on the voyages of James Cook. Kinnear was one of the founders of the Society for the History of Natural History. He wrote two papers in the '' Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' on the history of Indian ornithology and mammalology. He edited editions of the ''Popular Handbook of Indian Birds'' written by
Hugh Whistler Hugh Whistler (28 September 1889 – 7 July 1943), Zoological Society of London, F.Z.S., British Ornithologists' Union, M.B.O.U. was an England, English police officer and ornithologist who worked in India. He wrote one of the first field guides t ...
after the death of its author.


Death

He died on his 75th birthday at his home on Burghey Road, Wimbledon.


References


External links

* http://www.shnh.org/ABT_founders.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinnear, Norman Boyd 1882 births 1957 deaths Presidents of the British Ornithologists' Union Directors of the Natural History Museum, London Scientists from Edinburgh People educated at Glenalmond College Curators from Edinburgh Scottish ornithologists Naturalists from British India People educated at Edinburgh Academy Knights Bachelor Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath 20th-century Scottish zoologists Scottish taxonomists