Wettenhall, Henry Norman Burgess (1915 - 2000)

Summary

Henry Wettenhall was a paediatric endocrinologist who associated with the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne from 1948 to 1990. He was also a keen ornithologist and conservationist. In 1995 he sold his magnificent collection of books on birds, said to be the best collection of Australian natural history ever assembled, to create the Wettenhall Foundation whose primary purpose is to promote areas where knowledge and understanding of the natural environment is increased and where this knowledge can be applied effectively. His talent for networking and fundraising was of great benefit to the Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union, particular advances being the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds (HANZAB) and the acquisition of headquarters at Moonee Ponds.

Details

Chronology

c. 1935 - c. 1941

Education - Educated, University of Melbourne (MD, BS)

1941 - 1944

Career position - Surgeon Lieutenant with the Royal Australian Navy

1948 - 1973

Career position - Senior Physician at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne

1956 - 1977

Career position - Member of council of the National Trust

1960s

Career position - Chairman, Landscape Preservation Council

1961 - 1964

Career position - Dean of Clinical School at the Royal Children's Hospital

1963 - 1978

Career position - Honorary Ornithologist at the National Museum of Victoria

1965 - 1969

Career position - Member of Council and Executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation

1966 - 1977

Career position - Chairman of Council of Geelong College

1973 - 1980

Career position - Endocrinologist

1978 - 1983

Career position - President, Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union

1978 - 1983

Career position - Member of Council of the National Museum of Victoria

1980 - 1988

Career position - Inaugural Chairman of Board of Heide Park and Art Gallery

1980 - 1990

Career position - Honorary Consulting Endocrinologist

1983 -

Career position - Trustee of the Victorian Conservation Trust

1985

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to the community, particularly in the field of natural history

1989 - 2000

Award - Fellow, Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union (FRAOU)

Related entries

Published resources

Journal Articles

• McEvey, A., 'RAOU Fellows: citations: Henry Norman Burgess Wettenhall', Emu, 89 (3) (1989), 186-7. Details
• Wettenhall, Norman, 'RAOU Fellow citation: Clive Minton MA PhD', Emu, 98 (1998), 241. Details

Resources

• 'Wettenhall, Henry Norman Burgess (19150918-20001130)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1476360. 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