Chisholm, Alexander Hugh (Alec) (1890 - 1977)

Summary

Alexander Hugh (Alec) Chisholm published many books on Australia's flora and fauna over the years 1932-1966 and edited a number of prominent Australian newspapers (including Argus (Melbourne), Australasian (Melbourne) and Sunday pictorial (Sydney)), magazines and books including the compilation of The Australian encyclopaedia (1958). He left school at 12 and did various jobs, contributed notes on bird life to the local press, then to newspapers in Melbourne, and was honorary nature teacher in Victorian high schools. As a young man he joined the poet Mary Gilmore in a campaign against the slaughter of egrets for women's feather hats. He was an active participant in natural history societies in the several states in which he lived, holding office as President and editing their journals. He was a Fellow of the Royal Australian Historical Society and the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, and a corresponding member of the British Ornithologists' Union.

Details

Chronology

1907 - 1910

Career position - Member, Australasian Ornithologist's Union

1910 - 1961

Career position - Member, Royal Australasian Ornithologist's Union

1911 - 1915

Career position - Reporter, Maryborough and Dunolly advertiser, Victoria

1915 - 1922?

Career position - Reporter for the Brisbane mail

1918 - 1922

Career position - Adviser and lecturer on natural history for the Queensland Government

1919 - 1922

Career position - President, Queensland Gould League of Bird Lovers

1920 - 1922

Career position - Editor, Queensland naturalist

1921 - 1922

Career position - President, Field Naturalists' Club of Queensland

1922

Career position - Corresponding Fellow, American Ornithologists' Union

1922 - 1977

Award - Life Member, Queensland Naturalists' Club

1926 - 1928

Career position - Editor, Emu

1934

Career position - President, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales

1934 - 1977

Award - Fellow, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales

1937 - 1938

Career position - President, Field Naturalists Club of Victoria

1937 - 1938

Career position - President, Victorian Bird Observers' Club

1939 - 1940

Career position - President, Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union

1939 - 1948

Career position - Editor, The Victorian naturalist

1940

Award - Australian Natural History Medallion, Field Naturalist Club of Victoria

1940

Award - Inaugural Australian Natural History Medallion

1940 - 1977

Career position - Corresponding Member, British Ornithologists' Union

1941 - 1971

Award - Fellow, Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union

1947

Career position - Editor Who's who in Australia

1954 - 1961

Career position - Member of Council, Royal Historical Society of Australia

1958

Award - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

1958

Career position - Editor-in-Chief, Australian encyclopaedia

1959 - 1960

Career position - President, Royal Historical Society of Australia

1960 - 1977

Award - Life Member, Maryborough Field Naturalists' Club

1961 - 1971

Award - Fellow, Royal Australasian Ornithologist's Union

1964 - 1977

Award - Fellow, Royal Historical Society of Queensland

1964 - 1977

Career position - Member of Council, Royal Historical Society of Australia

1965 - 1977

Award - Honorary Life Member, Wild Life Preservation Society of Australia

1971 - 1977

Award - Honorary Member, Royal Australasian Ornithologist's Union

Related entries

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Alexander Hugh (Alec) Chisholm - Records, 1870 - 1976, ML MSS 3540; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• Alexander Hugh (Alec) Chisholm - Records, 1913 - 1939, MS 2225; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Alexander Hugh (Alec) Chisholm - Oral History Recording, 1960, DeB 42; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Alexander Hugh (Alec) Chisholm - Oral History Recording, June 1972, TRC 121/34; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

• Chisholm, A. H., The Incredible Year (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1940). Details
• Chisholm, A. H., The Story of Elizabeth Gould (Melbourne: Hawthorn Press, 1944). Details
• Chisholm, A. H., An Explorer and His Birds. John Gilbert's Discoveries in 1844-5 (Melbourne: Brown, Prior, Anderson, 1945), 37 pp. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., Strange New World: the Adventures of John Gilbert and Ludwig Leichardt (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1955). Details
• Chisholm, A. H., Ferdinand von Mueller (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1962). Details
• McGregor, Russell, Idling in green places: a life of Alec Chisholm (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2019), 285 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Chisholm, A. H., 'Gould, John (1804-1881), zoologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 465-467. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010427b.htm. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Gould, Elizabeth (1804-1841), natural history artist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), p. 465. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010426b.htm. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Bennett, George (1804-1893), medical practitioner and naturalist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 85-86. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010084b.htm. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Gilbert, John (1810?-1845)' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 441-442. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010407b.htm. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Coxen, Charles (1809-1876), naturalist and politician' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 3: 1851 - 1890 A-C, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1969), pp. 487-488. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030453b.htm. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Calvert, James Snowden (1825-1884), explorer and botanist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 3: 1851 - 1890 A-C, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1969), p. 333. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030308b.htm. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Broinowski, Gracius Joseph (1837-1913), artist and ornithologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 3: 1851 - 1890 A-C, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1969), p. 239. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030223b.htm. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Atkinson, Caroline Louisa Waring (1834-1872), naturalist and writer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 3: 1851 - 1890 A-C, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1969), pp. 59-60. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030060b.htm. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Helms, Richard (1842-1914), zoologist and botanist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 4: 1851 - 1890 D-J, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972), p. 374. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A040423b.htm. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Elsey, Joseph Ravenscroft (1834-1857), surgeon, explorer and naturalist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 4: 1851 - 1890 D-J, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972), p. 139. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A040141b.htm. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Ramsay, Edward Pierson (1842-1916), ornithologist and zoologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 6: 1851 - 1890 R - Z, Bede Nairn, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1976), pp. 3-4. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060004b.htm. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Wheelwright, Horace (Horatio) William (1815-1865)' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 6: 1851 - 1890 R - Z, Bede Nairn, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1976), pp. 383-384. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060411b.htm. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Barrett, Charles Leslie (1879-1959), naturalist and journalist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 7: 1891 - 1939 A-Ch, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1979), p. 185. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070191b.htm. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Cayley, Neville William (1886-1950), ornithologist and artist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 7: 1891 - 1939 A-Ch, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1979), pp. 596-597. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070605b.htm. Details
• Kloot, Tess, 'Chisholm, Alexander Hugh (Alec) (1890-1977), journalist, ornithologist and encyclopaedist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 13: 1940 - 1980 A-De, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993), pp. 422-423. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130463b.htm. Details

Edited Books

• Chisholm, A. H. ed., Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales with Sixty-five Plates of New Descript Animals, Birds, Lizards, Serpents, Curious Cones of Trees and other Natural Productions by John White, Esq. (Sydney: Angus & Robertson for Royal Australian Historical Society, 1962). Details

Journal Articles

• Balmford, Peter, 'Newspapers as a Source of Information about Natural History', The Victorian naturalist, 102 (1) (1985), 20-27. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Bird seeking in Queensland 1779 - 1922 (part 1-2)', Queensland naturalist, 3 (5) (1922), 66-70, 93-101. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'The Ornithological History of Queensland', Queensland Naturalist, lii (1922), 66-79; 93-101; 115-123. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Some Letters from George Grey to John Gould', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 216-26. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'John Gilbert. Some Letters to Gould', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 186-99. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'The Story of John Gilbert.', Emu, 39 (1940), 156-176. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Mrs John Gould and her Relations', Emu (1941). Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'John Gould's Australian Prospectus', Emu, 42 (1942), 74-84. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Birds of the Gilbert Diary, part [1-] 2', Emu, 44 (2-3) (1944-1945), 131-150, 183-200. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'The Diaries of S. W. Jackson', Emu, 58 (1958), 75-76. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Some Early Letters in Australian Ornithology', Emu, 63 (1964). Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'J. R. Elsey, Surgeon, Naturalist, Explorer', Queensland Naturalist, 17 (3/4) (1964), 60-70. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'J. R. Elsey, Explorer of the Never-Never', Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 52 (1966). Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Dudley Dickison - Student of Birds and Books', The Victorian naturalist, 84 (8) (1967), 251-253. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Obituary. Gilbert Roscoe Gannon', Proceedings of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, 89 (1968), 12. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Obituaries: Roy Percy Cooper', Emu, 77 (2) (1977), 88. Details
• Chisholm, A. H.; and Serventy, D. L., 'Tom Iredale', Emu, 73 (2) (1973), 74-8. Details
• Chisholm, A. H.; and White, C. T., 'The late Dr Shirley', Queensland naturalist, 3 (1922), 87. Details
• McGill, A. R., 'Alexander Hugh Chisholm', The Emu, 77 (1977), 232-235. Details
• McGregor, Russell, 'Alec Chisholm and the extinction of the Paradise Parrot', Historical Records of Australian Science, 32 (2) (2021), 156-67, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR20019. Details
• McGregor, Russell, 'Mateship with nature: nationalism and conservation in the writings of Alec Chisholm', Environment and history, 27 (1) (2021), 399-420. https://doi.org/10.3197/096734019X15463432087026. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Alexander Hugh Chisholm, OBE, CMZS., C.F.A.O.U. (1890-1977). An Appreciation', The Victorian naturalist, 94 (5) (1977), 188-190. Details

Resources

• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/10309093. Details
• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q4719170. Details
• 'Chisholm, Alec H (1890-1977)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-459096. Details

Reviews

• McGregor, Russell, Idling in green places: a life of Alec Chisholm (2019)
  Morgan, Ruth A., Australian journal of biography and history, 5, (2021), 287-90. Details

See also

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