Lockley, R. M. (Ronald Mathias), 1903-2000

Person

Lockley, R. M. (Ronald Mathias), 1903-2000

Ronald Mathias Lockley was a conservationist and island dweller who was born in Whitchurch, Cardiff, on 8 November 1903. In 1926 he moved with his wife Doris to Skokholm Island and established the UK’s first bird observatory in 1933. He was the founder of the West Wales Field Society. Ronald Lockley wrote over fifty books and his most famous book was The Private Life Of A Rabbit, which was published in 1964. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1970 and was awarded a Medal of the British Ornithologists Union on his ninetieth birthday. He died on 12 April, 2000, in Auckland, and his ashes were scattered on Skokholm.