James Roy Kinghorn (12 October 1891 – 4 March 1983), generally known as Roy, or J. R. Kinghorn, was an Australian naturalist, a longtime curator at the Australian Museum, and a noted lecturer and broadcaster.

Early years

Roy Kinghorn was born in Richmond, New South Wales, the youngest of three children of Rev. James Kinghorn (1861–1912) and his wife (Bertha) Ethel, née Campbell (ca.1866–1942). He was educated at Ellengowan School, Bathurst, All Saints' College, Bathurst and the

Sydney Church of England Grammar School , motto_translation = , established = , type = Independent single-sex and co-educational early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school , grades = Early learning ...

.Rose Docker
'Kinghorn, James Roy (1891–1983)'
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published in hardcopy 2007, accessed online 7 February 2014 In 1907 he was accepted as a cadet at the Australian Museum, Sydney, specialising in crustaceans. He attended lectures at

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...

and studied part-time at

Sydney Technical College The Sydney Technical College, now known as the TAFE New South Wales Sydney Institute, is a technical school established in 1878, that superseded the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. The college is one of Australia's oldest technical education i ...

, but after failing an examination at the College, was transferred to a clerical position at the Museum.

Wartime and later career

Kinghorn enlisted with the AIF in June 1915 and served during World War I in Egypt and Lemnos with the Dental Corps and with the Field Artillery Brigade, mostly as a driver, but after receiving a severe knee injury in December 1917 was repatriated to Australia, and was discharged as permanently medically unfit in July 1918. He was to serve as recruiting officer for the

2nd AIF The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the name given to the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial ...

during the Second World War. He returned to the Australian Museum in 1918 and was appointed zoologist in charge of reptiles and amphibians; three years later birds were added to his portfolio. He was appointed Assistant Director of the Australian Museum around 1951 and retired in 1956.

Lecturer and broadcaster

Kinghorn was a popular and prolific lecturer on zoological subjects, beginning around 1924. His interest in broadcasting began around the same time, with talks and stories on the Children's Hour on Farmer's Radio Service (later 2FC). Among his last media appearances was (as "Linnaeus" the naturalist) in a weekly spot during the last decade of ABC radio's Argonauts' Club. He was a regular on Captain Fortune Show, a pioneering TV series of the 1950s and the "Spying on Nature" segment of "Wednesday Wonderbox" children's show on ABC-TV (which also featured Mr. Squiggle) in the 1960s.

Family life

Kinghorn married Winifred Mance (died 1977) on 12 November 1921. They had no children.

Publications

*''Large Non-venomous Snakes of Australia'' Australian Museum Magazine vol.1 issue 2 September 1921. *Kinghorn, J.R. 1923. A New Genus of Elapine Snake from Northern Australia. Records of the Australian Museum 14 (1): 42–45 + Plate VII.
(''"Oxyuranus, gen. nov."'', p. 42.) *''Snakes of Australia'', illustrated by

Ethel A. King Ethel Anna King (1879 – 1 January 1939) was an Australian scientific illustrator of snakes, fish and botany. Biography Born in Lismore in 1879, King moved to Sydney to study painting and drawing with Julian Ashton and Dattilo Rubbo. In 1922 ...

, 1929, New, large format, edition ed. Harold Cogger (1935– ) 1964 *''Dangerous Snakes of the South-West Pacific Area'' with Charles Kellaway (1943). This pocket guide was published for American troops serving in the region. * Kinghorn, J. Roy 1929 Herpetological notes No. I Records of the Australian Museum 17 (2): 76–84 * Kinghorn, JR 1929 Rec. Austral. Mus., Sydney, 17: 77 * Kinghorn, J. Reptiles and Roy 1924 batrachian from south and south-west Australia. Records of the Australian Museum 14 (3): 163–183

Societies

* Zoological Society of London (Corresponding Member) *Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia * California Academy of Sciences (Fellow) * Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales (and its President 1927–1928, 1950–1956) *

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(council member)

Recognition

*Diploma of the British

Museums Association The Museums Association (MA) is a professional membership organisation based in London for museum, gallery and heritage professionals, museums, galleries and heritage organisations, and companies that work in the museum, gallery and heritage s ...

, 1935 A species of snake, '' Simalia kinghorni'', was named for him, as well as a species of lizard, '' Proablepharus kinghorni''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Kinghorn", p. 141).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinghorn, James Roy 1891 births 1983 deaths Australian radio personalities Australian herpetologists Australian ornithologists Australian conservationists People educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School 20th-century Australian zoologists