Neville William Cayley
(1886-1950) was a celebrated Australian author, artist and ornithologist. He
produced Australia’s first comprehensive bird field guide
What Bird is That? In 1960
it was rated the all-time best seller in Australian natural history and remains
a classic birding reference to this day.
Neville William Cayley
was born on 7 January, 1886, in Yamba, NSW, to Neville Henry Cayley (d.1903) and
Lois Emmeline nee Gregory (d. 1941).
His father, who came from Kent, England, was an ornithologist and bird artist.
Educated at local public schools, Cayley moved with his family to Sydney
about 1894 and attended art school.
After
the death of his father, he moved to Cronulla where his mother set up a boarding
house in Ewos Parade. When the Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club was formed in
1908, Neville Cayley was one of its founding members.
He also became a member of the executive of the Surf Life Saving
Association of Australia and the Royal Life Saving Society.
On 15 December, 1917, at Marrickville, Cayley married Beatrice Lucy Doust
and, in 1918, his first work Our Birds
was published. Other works followed
and he began illustrating birds’ eggs for the
Australian Encyclopaedia.
In 1927, Beatrice Cayley died at
Ashfield.
In 1931, Neville Cayley’s most celebrated work
What Bird
is That? was published.
Wanting to create a guide that was accessible to beginners, Cayley
organised the birds by habitat and included concise information.
The book became a classic and remains in print today.
In 1932-33 , he was
President of Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales and, in 1935,
made an Honorary Life Member of Gould League of Bird Lovers of New South Wales.
In 1936-37, he was President
of the Royal Australasian Ornithologist’s Union.
In memory of his father, Cayley set up a scholarship in Economic
Ornithology, at Sydney University, funded by royalties from
What Bird is That?
The last of these scholarships was awarded in 2010.
He continued to work until 1947 but was unable to continue
after suffering chronic kidney disease and a series of strokes.
Neville Cayley died on 17
March, 1950 at Avalon, NSW. He was survived by his second wife and two sons from
his first marriage.
Colleen M Passfield
First published in Sutherland
Shire, Some Early Residents, 2006, by Botany Bat Family History Society.
Compiled by Maree McKinley and Sue Hewitt.
Click on the name
CAYLEY, Neville William (1886 – 1950) in the
heading of this story. You will be taken to the database entry for Neville
William Cayley and his family.
References:
·
Australian
Dictionary of Biography
·
Wikipaedia
·
Young, Faye M,
Building Strong Traditions – A History of
the Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club 1908-1957
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