Biographical entry Moncrieff, Perrine Millais (1893 - 1979)

Summary

Perrine Millais Moncrieff was interested in ornithology, bird protection and nature conservation. She was a public benefactor, buying land to be used as public reserves, and possibly because of this her work on bird protection was not impeded by vested interests. Organisations interested in nature conservation cited her work. Moncriedd was a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

Details

CBE 1975. Spent her early years living in London, Brussels and Perthshire, Scotland. Married Captain Malcolm Moncrieff 1914, moved with him to Nelson, New Zealand 1919. Wrote New Zealand Birds and How to Identify Them (1925, running to several editions), People Came Later (1965, which had material on the establishment of the Abel Tasman National Park in Nelson Province) and The Rise and Fall of David Riccio (1976, a historical novel about Scotland). Interested in ornithology, bird protection and nature conservation. She and her husband bought land and jointly presented it to the Government to keep as public reserves. Active in establishing the Abel Tasman National Park. Order of Oranje-Nassau, Netherlands Government 1974. First female president, Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union 1932-33; president of various scientific and cultural bodies in Nelson and a vice-president and representative of the Royal New Zealand Forest and Bird Protection Society.

Published resources

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Moncrieff, Pérrine', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-878422. Details

See also

• Robin, Libby, The Flight of the Emu: a Hundred Years of Australian Ornithology 1901-2001, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2001, 492 pp. Details