Sir Hugh Francis Ivo Elliott, 3rd Baronet, OBE (10 March 1913 – 21 December 1989) was an eminent British conservationist,

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and colonial civil servant. Born in India in 1913, the elder son of Sir Ivo Elliott, 2nd Baronet, he was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford,

Eastbourne College Eastbourne College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, for boarding school, boarding and Day school, day pupils aged 13–18, in ...

and

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

where he was an active member of the Oxford Ornithological Society. From 1937 until 1950, he worked as a colonial civil servant, in

Tanganyika Territory Tanganyika was a colonial territory in East Africa which was administered by the United Kingdom in various forms from 1916 until 1961. It was initially administered under military occupation. From 20 July 1922, it was formalised into a League o ...

, where he was District Commissioner in Moshi. He was seconded in 1950 to

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcano, volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is one of three constituent parts of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascensi ...

, where he served as the territory's first Administrator. In the 1953 New Year Honours he was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in recognition of his service to the community on Tristan da Cunha. He returned to Africa in 1953, working in the Ministry of Natural Resources in

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

; he was promoted to Permanent Secretary in 1958 and remained in that position until retirement in 1961 shortly before Independence. While at the Ministry he made an important contribution to the development of National Parks, in particular the creation of the

Serengeti National Park The Serengeti National Park is a large national park in northern Tanzania that stretches over . It is located in eastern Mara Region and northeastern Simiyu Region and contains over of virgin savanna. The park was established in 1940. The Se ...

and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. In his spare time, he was an avid and serious birdwatcher, both in Tanganyika, collecting specimens, making systematic observations, and publishing articles in ornithological journals, and on Tristan, making an important contribution to the ornithology of the islands. Upon retiring from the colonial civil service in 1961 he was appointed Commonwealth Liaison Officer for the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN), based in Switzerland. In 1962 he also took on the role of Acting Secretary General of the IUCN and became Secretary General in 1964. Then in 1966 he changed role to become Secretary of the IUCN's Ecology Commission until 1970, but continued to edit the IUCN's technical publications for several more years. He served on the committee of the

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

, being Honorary Secretary 1962–1966, Vice-President 1970–1973 and President 1975–1979. He was a Trustee of the

British Museum (Natural History) The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum and ...

1971–1981 and Chairman of the British Section of the International Council for Bird Preservation 1980–1981. His highly regarded book, ''The Herons of the World'', written in co-authorship with James Hancock, was published in 1978.''The Herons of the World'' / James Hancock and Hugh Elliott; with Paintings by Robert Gillmor and Peter Hayman, and Drawings by Robert Gillmor ; aps Prepared by Arka Graphics Harper & Row, New York, 1978. (also:- London: London Editions ) He also wrote, in co-authorship with Jacqueline Henricot, a two-volume book entitled "World Guide to National Parks and Nature Reserves", but it was never published because of his illness in his latter years. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth (d. 2007), his daughters Susan Elspeth Elliott (d. 2017) and Judith Margery Elliott, and his son Clive Christopher Hugh Elliott (d. 2018).

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