Cuthbert Antony Norris (9 January 1917 in

Cradley, Worcestershire Cradley () is a village in the Black Country and Metropolitan Borough of Dudley near Halesowen and the banks of the River Stour. Colley Gate is the name of the short road in the centre of Cradley. It was part of the ancient parish of Halesowen ...

– 25 February 2005 in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

) was an English

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

. He was a member of the

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

's council in the 1950s and 1960s, chairing its finance and general purposes committee. During that time, he persuaded the organisation to move from London to its current headquarters at The Lodge, Sandy,

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

. Using his own money to facilitate the transaction he was, for one day, owner of the Lodge. Norris was BTO President from 1961–1964 and was awarded their

Bernard Tucker Medal The Bernard Tucker Medal is awarded by the British Trust for Ornithology for services to ornithology. It is named in memory of Bernard Tucker, their first Secretary. It has been awarded since 1954, usually annually although there are some years ...

in 1959. He was also secretary and chairman of the

West Midland Bird Club The West Midland Bird Club is the UK's largest regional ornithological society. It has been serving birdwatchers and ornithologists in the four English counties of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and (since its separation from the afo ...

from 1953–1975 and its president from 1975–1999. He was the youngest member of the

British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds ("ornithology") and around the world, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry ...

. He was the instigator of the

Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory is a bird observatory on Bardsey Island, off the Welsh coast. It was founded in 1953 by a group of ornithologists from the West Midland Bird Club (who were represented on the observatory's management committ ...

and was the youngest member of the

. In December 1958 he presented a talk on the

BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...

, ''In Search of Prunella'', about the

alpine accentor The alpine accentor (''Prunella collaris'') is a small passerine bird in the family Prunellidae, which is native to Eurasia and North Africa. Taxonomy The Alpine accentor was described by the Austria naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1769. ...

(''Prunella collaris''). In 1940, he married Cicely Hurcomb, daughter of Lord Hurcomb, and they had two daughters. He ran a garden nursery and specialised in growing

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

nerine ''Nerine'' (nerines, Guernsey lily, Jersey lily, spider lily) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. They are bulbous perennials, some evergreen, associated with rocky and arid habit ...

lilies, for which he was awarded an RHS gold medal. Cicely died in 1976 and in 1985 Norris bred a ''Nerine'' 'Cicely Norris', named in her honour He was a personal friend of

Peter Scott Sir Peter Markham Scott, (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, he took an interest in ...

and assisted him in setting up the

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is an international wildfowl and wetland conservation charity in the United Kingdom. Its patron is Charles III, and its president is Kate Humble. History The WWT was founded in 1946 by the ornithologist a ...

Bibliography

(incomplete) *''The Distribution and Status of the Corncrake'' * * * (published for private circulation)

References

External links

* - obituary, linking to others. {{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Tony 1917 births 2005 deaths English ornithologists People from Cradley, West Midlands British Trust for Ornithology people 20th-century British zoologists