Richard Ffrench

Richard Patrick Ffrench , MBE , ( spelled Richard ffrench ; born September 15, 1929 in Aldershot , Hampshire , † May 10, 2010 in Castle Douglas , Scotland ) was a British ornithologist and teacher. His research focus was the avifauna of Trinidad and Tobago .

Live and act

After completing school at Blundell's School in Tiverton , Devon , Ffrench did his military service from 1948 to 1950 , where he was stationed on the Malay Peninsula in 1949 . He then studied at the Balliol College of University of Oxford , where he in 1954 his Bachelor Accounts in classical philology , history and philosophy gained (Literae Humaniores). A Postgraduate Certificate in Education followed in 1955. During his studies he met Margaret Southern, whom he married in 1953 and who has since often supported him in his field work. This marriage had three children: two sons and a daughter. From 1955 to 1958 Richard Ffrench taught as an assistant teacher at the Lodge School in Barbados . He also founded and led an artist club at this school and took over the management of the Cameo Club Choir in Bridgetown .

During a vacation trip to Trinidad and Tobago in 1956, Richard ffrench first saw the magnificent rainforests and avifauna of the twin islands. In 1958 he got a job as an assistant teacher at St. Peter's School in Pointe-à-Pierre in Trinidad and Tobago, where he taught English, Latin, history and music. In 1976, he became the assistant principal of the school, a position he held until 1984 when the school closed. In addition to his teaching and administrative activities, he organized and directed an international youth program for 20 years . His outdoor activities under this program resulted in the co-authoring of a guide to the nature trails of Trinidad ( Nature Trails of Trinidad with Peter R. Bacon, 1982). He also founded and directed the Orpheus Choir, which won several prizes at national music festivals between 1964 and 1984. In 1985 the Ffrenches moved back to England, where Richard Ffrench accepted a position as an assistant teacher at Oakley Hall School, Cirencester until 1986 . At the age of 55 he gave up his job as a teacher and led bird watching tours to Trinidad and Tobago for the travel company Abercrombie & Kent, as well as to other destinations in Central and South America, including Belize , Costa Rica , Ecuador and Venezuela . At the age of 75 he retired for health reasons.

Ffrench's research on the Caribbean avifauna began in Barbados and flourished in Trinidad and Tobago. In 1958 he made the acquaintance of the married couple David William and Barbara Kathleen Snow and supported them in their field work. From 1959 to 1985 he worked for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service , ringing thousands of birds in the Caribbean region. His initial interests focused on shorebirds, sea birds (especially terns), the scarlet ibis and other wetland species, on the birds of the offshore islands, on the Perlaar and on the Dickzissel . For these studies he did a long field work. In 1964 he began to record his best-known work Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago , which was first published in 1973 and has since appeared in several new editions. He has also written bird articles for the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists' Club's journal, the Trinidad Naturalist magazine and the Sunday Guardian newspaper. In 1986 the book Birds of Trinidad and Tobago appeared on the more common bird species of Trinidad and Tobago.

Honors and memberships

Richard Ffrench has served as President and Honorary Lifelong Fellow of the Trinidad Field Naturalists' Club and has been the editor of several editions of the Club Journal. In 1967 he was a founding member of the Asa Wright Nature Center (named after the Icelandic ornithologist Asa Wright (1879–1971)) and from 1969 to 1971 chairman of the board of this institution, which campaigns for the protection of nature in Trinidad. He was also a founding member and Honorary Secretary of the Pointe-à-Pierre Wildfowl Trust. For 20 years he worked as an ornithologist for the Wildlife Conservation Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture of Trinidad and Tobago. Ffrench was a dedicated bird conservationist. He has prepared reports for several government organizations, lectured at the Institute for Maritime Affairs and other government agencies, and led field trips, which he wrote about in the press. In 1984 Ffrench was awarded the Silver Chaconia Medal by the government of Trinidad and Tobago for his services to the natural sciences. In the same year he received the Order of Member of the British Empire for his cultural and educational work . Ffrench was also a life member of the American Ornithologists 'Union , Life Fellow in the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and a member of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust , the Scottish Ornithologists' Club, the Neotropical Bird Club and the Society for Caribbean Ornithology.

Works (selection)

• A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 1973
• Nature Trails of Trinidad, 1982 (with Peter R. Bacon)
• Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 1986
• A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 1991 (revised edition)
• A Naturalist's Year, 2007 (with Margaret Ffrench)

literature

• Floyd E. Hayes and Stanley A Temple (Eds.): Studies in Trinidad and Tobago Ornithology Honoring Richard Ffrench . Occasional Paper # 11. Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, 2002 (biography and bibliography, pdf online )
• Graham L. White: Tribute to Richard ffrench 1929-2010 pdf online

Web links

• Geoff Gibbs: Richard ffrench obituary In The Guardian June 6, 2010.