Esmé Kirby (born Esmé Cummings, 31 August 1910, Croydon, died 18 October 1999, Snowdonia), was a
conservationist who together with her husband Peter Kirby formed the
Snowdonia National Park Society, to ensure the mountains were protected from future development. She was previously married to
Thomas Firbank, whose bestseller "I Bought a Mountain" describes their life at the hill farm
Dyffryn Mymbyr during the 1930s. Esme left the farm to the National Trust.
[Obituary:]
Esmé Kirby – Guardian of Snowdonia
' by Craig Shuttleworth
In 1997, Esmé initiated the eradication of grey squirrels (''S. carolinensis'') from the island of Anglesey, building a partnership of like minded individuals from within the local community. Today, the grey squirrel is absent from Anglesey and the island contains the largest red squirrel population in Wales.
References
Further reading
* ''Esmé: The Guardian of Snowdonia'' by Teleri Bevan, Y Lolfa, 2014,
External links
The 3000 feet mountains of Wales* Obituary:
Esmé Kirby – Spirited conservationist immortalised by I Bought a Mountain, her husband's saga of Snowdonia' by Jill Tunstall, The Guardian, 27 October 1999
* Obituary:
', The Telegraph, 14 Oct 2003
The Snowdonia Societywebsite
British conservationists
1910 births
1999 deaths
People from Croydon
Snowdonia
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