Kathleen McArthur
Encyclopedia
Kathleen McArthur was an Australia
n naturalist
, writer
, botanical illustrator
and conservationist
. She was born in Brisbane, Queensland to Catherine and Daniel Evans. Her mother was a daughter of the Durack pastoral family, her father a co-founder of an engineering firm. She married Malcolm McArthur in 1938 and had three children before divorcing in 1947. From 1942 she lived at Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast
of Queensland.
, David Fleay
and Brian Clouston
, of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland
in 1962, and served as vice-president from then until 1965. In 1963 she founded the Caloundra branch of the society.
She was involved in several campaigns during the 1960s and 1970s to preserve landscapes threatened by economic development, including the Pumicestone Passage
, the Great Barrier Reef
and Cooloola
. Much campaign work was funded through her growing and selling native plants as well as through exhibitions of her wildflower paintings. She was especially concerned for the Wallum
country of south-eastern Queensland, a habitat characterised by floristically-rich coastal heath and swamps on deep sandy soils.
The spider, Ozicrypta mcarthurae, was named after her for her outstanding contribution to conservation. In 1966 she was awarded an honorary
doctorate
by James Cook University
of North Queensland.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, botanical illustrator
Botanical illustrator
A botanical illustrator is a person who paints, sketches or otherwise illustrates botanical subjects such as trees and flowers. The job requires great artistic skill, attention to fine detail, and technical botanical knowledge...
and conservationist
Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....
. She was born in Brisbane, Queensland to Catherine and Daniel Evans. Her mother was a daughter of the Durack pastoral family, her father a co-founder of an engineering firm. She married Malcolm McArthur in 1938 and had three children before divorcing in 1947. From 1942 she lived at Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast
Sunshine Coast, Queensland
The Sunshine Coast is an urban area in South East Queensland, north of the state capital of Brisbane on the Pacific Ocean coastline. Although it does not have a central business district, by population it ranks as the 10th largest metropolis in Australia and the third largest in...
of Queensland.
The environmental activist
McArthur was a strong environmentalist and a co-founder, with Judith WrightJudith Wright
Judith Arundell Wright was an Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights.-Biography:...
, David Fleay
David Fleay
David Howells Fleay was an Australian naturalist who pioneered the captive breeding of endangered species, and was the first person to breed the platypus in captivity....
and Brian Clouston
Brian Clouston
Brian Clouston is a British landscape architect, and founder of Brian Clouston and Partners once the largest landscape architecture practice in Europe. Clouston was trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh and at the University of Newcastle...
, of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland
Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland
The Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland is a Queensland based conservation organisation. The Society was founded in 1962 by Judith Wright, Brian Clouston, David Fleay and Kathleen McArthur...
in 1962, and served as vice-president from then until 1965. In 1963 she founded the Caloundra branch of the society.
She was involved in several campaigns during the 1960s and 1970s to preserve landscapes threatened by economic development, including the Pumicestone Passage
Pumicestone Passage
Pumicestone Passage, also known as the Pumicestone Channel, is a narrow waterway between Bribie Island and the mainland in Queensland, Australia...
, the Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...
and Cooloola
Great Sandy National Park
Great Sandy is a coastal national park and suburb in Queensland, Australia. The park features untouched beaches, large sand dunes, heathlands, rainforests, swamps, creeks, freshwater lakes and mangrove forests....
. Much campaign work was funded through her growing and selling native plants as well as through exhibitions of her wildflower paintings. She was especially concerned for the Wallum
Wallum
Wallum, or Wallum country, is an Australian ecosystem of coastal south-east Queensland, extending into north-eastern New South Wales. It is characterised by floristically-rich shrubland and heathland on deep, nutrient-poor acidic sandy soils and regular wildfire. Seasonal changes in the...
country of south-eastern Queensland, a habitat characterised by floristically-rich coastal heath and swamps on deep sandy soils.
The spider, Ozicrypta mcarthurae, was named after her for her outstanding contribution to conservation. In 1966 she was awarded an honorary
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
by James Cook University
James Cook University
James Cook University is a public university based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The university has two Australian campuses, located in Townsville and Cairns respectively, and an international campus in Singapore. JCU is the second oldest university in Queensland—proclaimed in 1970—and the...
of North Queensland.
Writing
McArthur wrote a weekly column, Wildlife and Landscape, for her local paper. She also started the Lunch Hour Theatre in Caloundra, a monthly event for which she wrote scripts based on environmental, biographical and historical subjects. Books authored (and illustrated) by McArthur include:- 1959 – Queensland Wildflowers – A Selection. Jacaranda Press: Brisbane.
- 1978 – Pumicestone Passage: A Living Waterway. Bacchus Printing: Brisbane.
- 1981 – Bread and Dripping Days: An Australian Growing Up in the 20s. Kangaroo Press: Kenthurst.
- 1982 – The Bush in Bloom: A Wildflower Artist’s Year in Paintings and Words. Kangaroo Press: Kenthurst.
- 1985 – The Little Fishes of Pumicestone Passage. Artworks: Brisbane.
- 1986 – Looking at Australian Wildflowers. Kangaroo Press: Kenthurst.
- 1989 – Living on the Coast. Kangaroo Press: Kenthurst.