Share on Facebook
Share on X
Share by Email
Share on Google Classroom
Allan Cyril Brooks, naturalist, artist, soldier (born 15 February 1869 in Etawah, India; died 3 January 1946 in Comox, BC).
Education
Born into a prominent naturalist family, Allan Brooks received his early education in England. His family moved to Milton, Ontario, in 1881, and then to Chilliwack, BC, in 1887. Allan Brooks spent most of his remaining life in the Okanagan Valley and on Vancouver Island.
Career Highlights
Drawings and paintings of birds, some of which survive from Allan Brooks' fifth year, form his greatest legacy; he was illustrator of Percy A. Taverner's books on Canadian birds and of several American ornithological and popular works. An ardent hunter and collector, he carefully prepared bird skins as taught by Thomas McIwraith and mounted his own big-game heads, selling many specimens to museums. His scientific publications number about 130 and concentrate on faunistics and taxonomy.
Allan Brooks travelled widely, especially in North America, and was known for his boundless enthusiasm. In the First World War he quickly rose to the rank of major and received the Distinguished Service Order. His paintings brought him a gold medal from the Canadian National Museum and his research an Empire membership in the British Ornithologists' Union.
