Phillip Clancey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dr Phillip Alexander Clancey DSc (26th September 1917 - 18th July 2001) was a leading authority on the ornithology of South Africa.

Contents 1 Background and education 2 Early career 3 Military service 4 Expeditions 5 Museum posts 6 Books 7 Awards and honours 8 Collections 9 Later life 10 External links

[edit] Background and education

Phillip Clancey was born, brought up and educated in Glasgow, Scotland. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art where his artistic skills were developed.

[edit] Early career

[edit] Military service

Clancey served in the 51st Highland Division with the Allied forces in Sicily and Italy during World War II, narrowly escaping death on occasions. He was deafened in one ear by artillery fire.

[edit] Expeditions

In 1948-1949, he accompanied Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen on an ornithological expedition to Yemen, Aden, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa.

Clancey's relationship with Meinertzhagen was acrimonious - to the extent that, on one occasion, the two men came close to shooting each other. (Their driver found them holding each other at gunpoint, and had to talk them down.)

Clancey became convinced that Meinertzhagen was a fraud, and this was later ratified by Alan Knox.

[edit] Museum posts

Clancey immigrated to South Africa in August 1950 to take up the post of Curator of the Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg.

He was Director of the Durban Museum and Art Gallery from 1 January 1952 until his retirement on 25 September 1982.

Clancey also served as President of the Southern African Museums Association, President of the Southern African Ornithological Society and President of the Natal Bird Club.

[edit] Books

Clancey wrote extensively about the taxonomy of African birds, naming some two-hundred sub-species of Southern African birds.

• The Birds of Natal and Zululand (1964);

• The Gamebirds of Southern Africa (1967);

• Catalogue of the Birds of the South African Subregion (1965-1972);

• Handlist of the Birds of Southern Mozambique (1970-1972);

• Co-author of Vol II of Atlas of Speciation of African Birds (1978);

• Chief Editor of the S.A.O.S. Checklist of Southern African Birds (1980);

• The Rare Birds of Southern Africa (1985);

• Kingfishers of Sub-Saharan Africa, Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers (31 Dec 1992)

ISBN-10: 0947464654 ISBN-13: 978-0947464653

• The Birds of Southern Mozambique. Publisher: African Bird Book Publishing;

2 Rev Ed edition (Jan 1996) ISBN-10: 0620199180 ISBN-13: 978-0620199186

• Contributed to The Atlas of Southern African Birds (1997).

Other publications number approximately 600.

[edit] Awards and honours

• Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Natal;

• Gill Memorial Medal of the Southern African Ornithological Society (now BirdLife South Africa);

• Fellowship of the Museums Association, London (for his work as a museologist);

• Honorary Life Member of the Southern African Ornithological Society (for his ornithological contributions);

• Several avian sub-species have been named after Clancey by others in his honour.

[edit] Collections

• Clancey donated a collection of some 5,500 bird-skins (mainly Western Palaearctic) to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh;

• He also donated over 32,000 bird-skins - a collection considered the finest in Africa - to the Durban Museum and Art Gallery.

[edit] Later life

Phillip Clancey continued as a Research Associate of the Durban Museum and Art Gallery until his death in 2001, aged 83. He was a lifelong bachelor.

[edit] External links

Ornithologists from Scotland.