This biography has been shared from The Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, published by the Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology, under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Born: 18 September 1870, Australia
Died: 15 April 1956
Country most active: Australia
Also known as: NA
Jane Fletcher, the daughter of Price Fletcher, the ‘Bush Naturalist’ of Queensland, published a number of books on nature and nature study and broadcast on 7ZL Hobart and 3LO Melbourne. In 1934 she became the first woman to lecture to the Royal Society of Tasmania. She was an outstanding bird observer with a particular interest in crakes and rails.
Details
Worked on an aunt’s farm, Wilmot, north-western Tasmania 1892-96; teacher of sewing (initially without pay), West Kentish primary school 1896-99; qualified as a head teacher 1899 and appointed to set up a school at Upper Wilmot; later taught at Cleveland (Tasmania), Springfield, Woodbridge and Forcett; opened part of her house at Eaglehawk Neck as a Youth Hostel after retirement. Undertook fieldwork for Gregory Mathews (q.v.) until 1936. First woman to deliver a lecture to the Royal Society of Tasmania, of which she was a member, in 1934. Foundation member 1901 and life member 1945, (Royal) Australasian Ornithologists’ Union. Writer of a number of children’s books, including Stories from Nature (London, 1915) and Little Brown Piccaninnies of Tasmania (Sydney, 1950), her most popular children’s book. Also wrote books and articles for adults on Tasmanian history, Aborigines and ornithology, her final book being Tasmania’s Own Birds (1956).
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