John Albert Leach (19 March 1870 – 3 October 1929) was an ornithologist, teacher and headmaster in the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. Leach was born in Ballarat, Victoria and educated at Creswick Grammar School (where he was dux), Melbourne Training College (1890) and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

, where he graduated B.Sc. in 1904, M.Sc. in 1906 and in 1912 obtained his doctorate for research in ornithology. Nla

Leach was a regular writer and broadcaster on natural history subjects and introduced it into the school curriculum. He was President of the

Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union The Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU), now part of BirdLife Australia, was Australia's largest non-government, non-profit, bird conservation organisation. It was founded in 1901 to promote the study and conservation of the native b ...

(RAOU) 1922-1924 and Editor of its journal ''

The Emu ''Emu'', subtitled ''Austral Ornithology'', is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of BirdLife Australia (formerly the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union). The journal was established in 1901 and is the oldest ornithological journal publ ...

'' 1914-1924 and 1928–1929. He was a member of the British Ornithologists Union and a corresponding fellow of the American Ornithologists Union. Leach was also member of the

Field Naturalists Club of Victoria The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) is an Australian natural history and conservation organisation. It was founded in May 1880 by a group of nature enthusiasts that included Thomas Pennington Lucas. Sophie C. Ducker,Lucas, Arthur Henr ...

. He was instrumental in founding the Gould League of Bird Lovers in 1909 with Jessie McMichael. He is best known as the author of ''An Australian Bird Book'', the first edition of which was published in 1911, and of ''Australian Nature Studies'' in 1922. He was also part-authored a series of ''Federal Geography'' books, and worked on the ''Official Checklist of the Birds of Australia'' second and revised edition, published by the RAOU in September 1926. Leach had been preparing two books before his death, one of these was a collection of weekly radio broadcasts he made on 3LO in the mid-1920s. He died of pericarditis and

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity ( pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

in Richmond and was survived by his wife, son and one daughter. Another daughter had pre-deceased him. Among his contributions to ornithology was the relationship between the

Australian magpie The Australian magpie (''Gymnorhina tibicen'') is a black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. Although once considered to be three separate species, it is now considered to be one, with nine recognised su ...

, butcherbirds and currawongs in the family Cracticidae, now sunk as a subfamily into Artamidae.

References

*Robin, Libby. (2001). ''The Flight of the Emu: a hundred years of Australian ornithology 1901-2001''. Carlton, Vic. Melbourne University Press. *Tess Kloot,
Leach, John Albert (1870 - 1929)
, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, MUP, 1986, pp 32–33.
Leach, John Albert (1870 - 1929)
at Bright Sparcs (Melbourne University)

Additional resources listed by the Australian Dictionary of Biography

* H. M. Whittell, ''The Literature of Australian Birds'' (Perth, 1954) *Education Department (Victoria), ''Vision and Realisation'', L. J. Blake ed. (Melb, 1973) *''Emu'', 29 January 1930, p 230 *C. Barrett, 'The doctor', in J. A. Leach, ''An Australian Bird Book'', 8th ed. (Melb, 1945) *''The Gap'', 1965, p 34 *Education Department (Victoria), ''Education Magazine'', 28, 1971, p 423 *''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'' (Melbourne), 4 October 1929 *'' The Argus'' (Melbourne), 4 October 1929.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, John Albert 1870 births 1929 deaths Australian ornithologists Australian non-fiction writers Australian educational theorists People from Ballarat