Raoul Sunday (Roy) Bell (19 February 1882 – 28 March 1966) was a professional

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n natural history

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

collector,

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 ...

, naturalist and

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

, who spent much time on Lord Howe and

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

s in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

between Australia and New Zealand. Bell was born on

Raoul Island Raoul Island (''Sunday Island'') is the largest and northernmost of the main Kermadec Islands, south south-west of 'Ata Island of Tonga and north north-east of New Zealand's North Island. It has been the source of vigorous volcanic activity ...

in the Kermadec Group north-east of New Zealand. By 1908 he was working as a specimen collector. From 1912 to 1914 Bell worked for

Gregory Mathews Gregory Macalister Mathews Order of the British Empire, CBE FRSE FZS FLS (10 September 1876 – 27 March 1949) was an Australian-born amateur ornithologist who spent most of his later life in England. Life He was born in Biamble, New South Wal ...

, collecting bird specimens for him on Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands. The information and specimens collected enabled Mathews to publish his book “The Birds of Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands” in 1928.Hutton, Ian. (1990). ''Birds of Lord Howe Island – Past and Present''. Author: Coffs Harbour. Bell served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as a photographer. After the war he collected in

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 ...

and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia.Bright Sparcs entry on Raoul Sunday Bell
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Lord Howe Island

Bell settled in Norfolk Island in 1910, but he also spent two years on Lord Howe Island collecting birds and other specimens during and following his employment with Mathews. He had a permit from the Lord Howe Island Board to collect certain birds. Because of opposition from some islanders his permit was temporarily revoked, then restored after he had gained favour with some influential islander families by providing them with special albums of photographs he had taken. Despite the restrictions on the permit Bell collected large numbers of all species, including 80 specimens of the

Lord Howe woodhen The Lord Howe woodhen (''Hypotaenidia sylvestris'') also known as the Lord Howe Island woodhen or Lord Howe (Island) rail, is a flightless bird of the rail family, (Rallidae). It is endemic to Lord Howe Island off the Australian coast. It is curr ...

. Bell's work on the island added significantly to our knowledge of the birds there. He discovered

Kermadec petrel The Kermadec petrel (''Pterodroma neglecta'') is a species of gadfly petrel in the family Procellariidae. It is 38 cm long with a wingspan of 100 cm. It is polymorphic, with light, dark and intermediate morphs known. It eats squid, fis ...

s breeding on

Mount Gower Mount Gower (also known as Big Hill), is the highest mountain on Australia's subtropical Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. With a height of above sea level, and a relatively flat summit plateau, it stands at the southern end of Lord Howe, jus ...

. He also found that the

white-bellied storm petrel The white-bellied storm petrel (''Fregetta grallaria'') is a species of seabird in the family Oceanitidae. It is found in Angola, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Maldives, Namibia, New ...

bred on the island and added eight other species to Lord Howe's bird list. Bell retired to Norfolk Island, where he died in 1966. His manuscript journals from when he was working and living on Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands are held by the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

References

1882 births 1966 deaths Australian ornithologists New Zealand ornithologists Lord Howe Island People from Norfolk Island New Zealand emigrants to Australia Norfolk Island people of New Zealand descent 20th-century New Zealand zoologists {{Australia-ornithologist-stub