Helen Alice Jane Brotherton,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

BEM (9 February 1914 – 6 August 2009) was an English conservationist. She was founder of the

Dorset Wildlife Trust Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) is a wildlife trust covering the county of Dorset, United Kingdom. The trust was founded in 1961 as Dorset Naturalists' Trust, to protect and conserve the wildlife and natural habitats of the county. DWT is one of 4 ...

Early life and education

Helen Brotherton was born at Harscott in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, and raised at

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

, the daughter of Eric and Helen Jakeman Brotherton. She trained as a teacher at

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

.Michael J. Allen
"Brotherton, Helen Alice Jane (1914–2009)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press, Jan 2013; online edition, May 2013). Brownsea Island Sign

Career

Her first teaching job was at Norwich High School for Girls. During World War II, she joined the Women's Voluntary Service, and eventually ran the Sick Bays in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, for which she received the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

in 1943. She moved to

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, after the war, to care for her aging mother. An avid birdwatcher, she volunteered with the Dorset Field Ornithology Group, and through that group learned of the specific environmental issues in Dorset. She sailed her own boat to Brownsea Island for explorations, against the ban on public access, issued and enforced by the island's reclusive owner,

Mary Bonham-Christie Mary Bonham-Christie (23 July 1865 – 28 April 1961) called "the Demon of Brownsea", was the reclusive owner of Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, Dorset from 1927 until her death in 1961. Personal life Mary Florence Whitburn was born in Wandswor ...

. In the early 1960s, after Bonham-Christie's death, Brotherton organized a group to oppose development on Brownsea Island, because the planned development would threaten a wading birds habitat. Because of her group's efforts, the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

took ownership of Brownsea, and the group developed into the Dorset Wildlife Trust.Hester Lacey
"Brownsea-Dorset Island Life"
''Kent Life'' (19 February 2010), Retrieved 24 August 2016 Helen Brotherton was the Trust's first and longtime secretary. In 1963, she was appointed an OBE for her environmental work. Brotherton worked with the coastal protection project "Operation Neptune" as the National Trust's regional representative in Wessex. In 1984, she was appointed a

for this activism. She founded the Portland Bird Observatory, was a trustee of the Chesil and Fleet Trust. In 1992, she received the Christopher Cadbury medal from the

Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts The Wildlife Trusts, the trading name of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, is an organisation made up of 46 local Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Alderney. The Wildlife Trusts, between them, look after more than 2, ...

, and in 2007 she won the Octavia Hill medal for her lifetime achievements in environmental conservation."Wildlife Champion Passes Away"
''Dorset Wildlife Trust'' (6 August 2009).

Personal life and legacy

As a side interest, Helen Brotherton contributed funds to the Salisbury Diocesan Guild of Ringers, to purchase bells in memory of her brother, Roderic Brotherton, who died in World War II. Helen Brotherton died in 2009, aged 95 years, at

Poole Hospital Poole Hospital (also known as Poole General Hospital) is an acute general hospital in Poole, Dorset, England. Built in 1907, it has expanded from a basic 14-bed facility into a 789-bed hospital. It is the trauma centre for east Dorset and provid ...

. At the time of her death, the Dorset Wildlife Trust had over 25,000 members. The Dorset Wildlife Trust presents a Helen Brotherton Award for Volunteering, begun in 2008 and named in her honor. In 2013, the Bishop of Salisbury dedicated a memorial to Helen Brotherton, in St. Mary's Church on Brownsea Island."Celebrating 50 Years on Brownsea Island"
St. Peter's Parkstone (6 June 2013).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brotherton, Helen 1914 births 2009 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English conservationists People from Lincolnshire Recipients of the British Empire Medal People from Leamington Spa