Frederick Nicholson Betts: Difference between revisions

From Bharatpedia, an open encyclopedia
>WikiCleanerBot
m (v2.04b - Bot T20 CW#61 - Fix errors for CW project (Reference before punctuation))
 
(robot: Update article (please report if you notice any mistake or error in this edit))
 
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name              = Frederick Nicholson Betts
| name              = Frederick Nicholson Betts
Line 8: Line 8:
| birth_date        = 25 October 1906
| birth_date        = 25 October 1906
| birth_place        =  
| birth_place        =  
| death_date        = 22 August 1973 (aged 66–67)
| death_date        = 22 August 1973 (aged 66)
| death_place        =  
| death_place        =  
| nationality        = British
| nationality        = British
Line 17: Line 17:
| notable_works      =  
| notable_works      =  
}}
}}
[[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-Colonel]] '''Frederick Nicholson Betts''' (25 October 1906 – 22 August 1973) was a [[British Indian Army]] officer and an [[ornithologist]].
[[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-Colonel]] '''Frederick Nicholson Betts''' (25 October 1906 – 22 August 1973) was a coffee plantation manager, [[British Indian Army]] officer, a political agent, and an [[ornithologist]].


==Biography==
==Biography==
[[File:Betts_1945.jpg|thumb|Photograph of the wedding in Nagaland from ''The Bombay Chronicle'', 9 September 1945]]
[[File:Betts_1945.jpg|thumb|Photograph of the wedding in Nagaland from ''[[The Bombay Chronicle]]'', 9 September 1945]]
F. N. Betts (known to friends and family as 'Tim'), was born in [[Launceston, Cornwall]] in UK to Barbara Treby Morshead and Herbert Nicholas Betts. He studied at [[Winchester College]] 1920–24. He went to Ceylon and worked in the tea plantations there and later in the coffee plantations in [[Coorg]]. He was commissioned in [[India]] as a Captain in the [[Punjab Regiment (India)|Punjab Regiment]], second lieutenant (12 September 1929,<ref>{{cite newspaper|date=9 January 1930|title=India Office|page=2|newspaper=The Times (weekly edition)}}</ref> Lt. 20 June 1930,<ref>{{cite newspaper|date=14 August 1930|title=Army in India Reserve of Officers|page=33|newspaper=The Times (weekly edition)}}</ref> moving from the reserve to the Indian Army on 1 August 1932<ref>{{cite newspaper|date=6 October 1932|title=Army in India Reserve of Officers|page=35|newspaper=The Times (weekly edition)}}</ref>) and in 1940, was posted to [[Eritrea]]. He was later posted Lt. Col. (Intelligence) in the [[V Force]] in the [[Burma campaign]], a guerrilla and intelligence unit in north eastern India which made use of Assam Hill tribesmen. Here he met [[Ursula Graham Bower]], an anthropologist studying the [[Naga people|Nagas]],<ref>Time Magazine 1 January 1945. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,791824,00.html Ursula and the Naked Nagas]</ref> whom he married in 1945. The couple had two daughters, Catriona and [[Alison Betts|Alison]].
F. N. Betts (known to friends and family as "Tim"), was born in [[Launceston, Cornwall]], in the UK to Barbara Treby Morshead and Herbert Nicholas Betts. He studied at [[Winchester College]] from 1920 to 1924. He went to Ceylon and worked in the tea plantations there and later in the coffee plantations in [[Coorg]]. He was commissioned in [[India]] as a captain in the [[Punjab Regiment (India)|Punjab Regiment]], second lieutenant (12 September 1929,<ref>{{cite news|date=9 January 1930|title=India Office|page=2|newspaper=The Times Weekly Edition}}</ref> Lt. 20 June 1930,<ref>{{cite news|date=14 August 1930|title=Army in India Reserve of Officers|page=33|newspaper=The Times Weekly Edition}}</ref> moving from the reserve to the Indian Army on 1 August 1932<ref>{{cite news|date=6 October 1932|title=Army in India Reserve of Officers|page=35|newspaper=The Times Weekly Edition}}</ref>) and in 1940, was posted to [[Eritrea]]. He was later posted lieutenant colonel (intelligence) in the [[V Force]] in the [[Burma campaign]], a guerrilla and intelligence unit in north eastern India which made use of Assam Hill tribesmen. Here he met [[Ursula Graham Bower]], an anthropologist studying the [[Naga people|Nagas]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071106021023/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,791824,00.html "Ursula and the Naked Nagas"]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. 1 January 1945.</ref> whom he married in 1945. The couple had two daughters, Catriona and [[Alison Betts|Alison]].


In 1946, the government of India made him the first political officer of the Subansiri area between the Assam plains and the [[McMahon Line]] (the boundary between India and [[Tibet]]). His first task was to march 60 miles into the interior to establish a supply [[drop zone]] and to set up a base which could provide supplies for the administrative setup there amid tribes such as the [[Nyishis]] and [[Apa Tani]]s.
In 1946, the government of India made him the first political officer of the Subansiri area between the Assam plains and the [[McMahon Line]] (the boundary between India and [[Tibet]]). His first task was to march 60 miles into the interior to establish a supply [[drop zone]] and to set up a base which could provide supplies for the administrative setup there amid tribes such as the [[Nyishis]] and [[Apa Tani]]s.


A year after India's independence, he moved to Kenya and served in the veterinary service in the Western [[Maasai people|Masai]] Reserve. He later moved from Kenya to the [[Isle of Mull|Island of Mull]] in Scotland where he farmed the Ardura Estate and spent time studying birds, and in 1967 he moved again to the [[New Forest]] in Southern England. He died of a stroke when out riding in the New Forest in 1973.<ref>Anon, 1973, Obituary from the Winchester College magazine '''The Wykehamist''' No. 1222 (7 November 1973)</ref>
A year after India's independence, he moved to Kenya and served in the veterinary service in the Western [[Maasai people|Masai]] Reserve. He later moved from Kenya to the [[Isle of Mull|Island of Mull]] in Scotland where he farmed the Ardura Estate and spent time studying birds, and in 1967 he moved again to the [[New Forest]] in Southern England. He died of a stroke when out riding in the New Forest in 1973.<ref>Obituary from the Winchester College magazine, ''The Wykehamist'', '''1222'''. 7 November 1973.</ref>


== Natural history ==
== Natural history ==
During his time in various remote places he studied the local birds and butterflies. He was among the first to study and report from the remote Khru valley, the [[Coorg]] district in southern India as well as from parts of northeast India and Africa. While in India he was an active member of the [[Bombay Natural History Society]]. He worked at coffee plantations in Coorg at Coovercully near Somwarpet and Yemmegundi at Pollibetta. His studies of the birds of Coorg during this time led to his major work on the birds of Coorg which he published in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society to "complement" the results of the Mysore survey that [[Salim Ali (ornithologist)|Salim Ali]] was undertaking at around the same time. His work was ahead of his time in that the entire study was based purely on observations and not primarily based on collected skins. He was also among the pioneers of bird photography in India.<ref>{{cite journal|pages=779–784|title=The history of bird-photography in India|author=Bates, R.S.P. & E.H.N. Lowther|journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society|volume=50|year=1952|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48057431}}</ref> His notes document the differences in the avifauna of the dry and wet zones of Coorg and also provide arrival dates for local and long-distance migrants. The editors of the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society noted:<ref>Editors. 1937. Journal Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. XL:346</ref>
During his time in various remote places he studied the local birds and butterflies. He was among the first to study and report from the remote Khru valley, the [[Coorg]] district in southern India as well as from parts of northeast India and Africa. While in India he was an active member of the [[Bombay Natural History Society]]. He worked at coffee plantations in Coorg at Coovercully near Somwarpet and Yemmegundi at Pollibetta. His studies of the birds of Coorg during this time led to his major work on the birds of Coorg which he published in the ''[[Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society]]'' to "complement" the results of the Mysore survey that [[Salim Ali (ornithologist)|Salim Ali]] was undertaking at around the same time. His work was ahead of his time in that the entire study was based purely on observations and not primarily based on collected skins. He was also among the pioneers of bird photography in India.<ref>{{cite journal|pages=779–784|title=The history of bird-photography in India|author=Bates, R.S.P. & E.H.N. Lowther|journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society|volume=50|year=1952|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48057431}}</ref> His notes document the differences in the avifauna of the dry and wet zones of Coorg and also provide arrival dates for local and long-distance migrants. The editors of the ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' noted:<ref>Editors. 1937. ''[[Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society]]''. XL: 346.</ref>
{{cquote|Mr F. N. Betts contributed a well illustrated paper on the Birds of a South Indian Tank in the Province of Coorg. Ecological notes of this description covering bird life in relation to a particular environment deserve encouragement and indicate a line of study which might with advantage be followed by others in the country.}}
{{cquote|Mr F. N. Betts contributed a well illustrated paper on the Birds of a South Indian Tank in the Province of Coorg. Ecological notes of this description covering bird life in relation to a particular environment deserve encouragement and indicate a line of study which might with advantage be followed by others in the country.}}


Many of his notes on the birdlife of India were used by [[Salim Ali (ornithologist)|Salim Ali]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Ali, S. |year=1982|url=https://archive.org/stream/NLBW22#page/n102/mode/1up/ |title=Foreword| journal=Newsletter for Birdwatchers| volume=22|issue=11–12|page=2}}</ref>
Many of his notes on the birdlife of India were used by [[Salim Ali (ornithologist)|Salim Ali]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Ali, S. |year=1982|url=https://archive.org/stream/NLBW22#page/n102/mode/1up/ |title=Foreword| journal=Newsletter for Birdwatchers| volume=22|issue=11–12|page=2}}</ref>


His work in [[Kenya]] led to a major paper on 'The Birds of Masai'. He also took an interest in orchid cultivation. He became a member of the Hampshire Field Club's Ornithological section and of the Hampshire Naturalists' Trust. He was secretary of the New Forest Beagles, served on the New Forest Consultative Panel, and was a treasurer of the Burley Branch of the British Legion.
His work in [[Kenya]] led to a major paper, "The Birds of Masai". He also took an interest in orchid cultivation. He became a member of the Hampshire Field Club's Ornithological section and of the Hampshire Naturalists' Trust. He was secretary of the New Forest Beagles, served on the New Forest Consultative Panel, and was a treasurer of the Burley Branch of the British Legion.


== Publications ==
== Publications ==
JBNHS here is short for the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.
''JBNHS'' here is short for the ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society''.


* (1965) Notes on some resident breeding birds of southwest Kenya. Ibis 108(4):513-530
* (1965) "Notes on some resident breeding birds of southwest Kenya". ''[[Ibis (journal)|Ibis]]''. '''108''' (4): 513-530.
* (1957) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48183146 ''Halcyon pileata'' inland.] JBNHS. 54(2):462.
* (1957) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48183146 "''Halcyon pileata'' inland"]. ''JBNHS''. '''54''' (2): 462.
* (1956) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48180853 Notes on birds of the Subansiri area, Assam.] JBNHS. 53(3):397-414.
* (1956) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48180853 "Notes on birds of the Subansiri area, Assam"]. ''JBNHS''. '''53''' (3): 397-414.
* (1956) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48180938 Colonization of islands by White-eyes (''[[Zosterops]]'' spp.).] JBNHS. 53(3):472-473.
* (1956) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48180938 "Colonization of islands by White-eyes (''Zosterops'' spp.)"]. ''JBNHS''. '''53''' (3): 472-473.
* (1954) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48184495 Occurrence of the Blacknecked Crane (''[[Grus nigricollis]]'') in Indian limits. JBNHS.] 52(2&3):605-606.
* (1954) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48184495 "Occurrence of the Blacknecked Crane (''Grus nigricollis'') in Indian limits"]. ''JBNHS''. '''52''' (2&3): 605-606.
* (1952) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48202327 Birds nesting on telegraph wires.] JBNHS. 51(1):271-272.
* (1952) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48202327 "Birds nesting on telegraph wires"]. ''JBNHS''. '''51''' (1): 271-272.
* (1952) The breeding seasons of birds in the hills of South India. Ibis 94(4):621-628.
* (1952) "The breeding seasons of birds in the hills of South India". ''Ibis''. '''94''' (4): 621-628.
* (1951) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48056737 The birds of Coorg. Part II.] JBNHS. 50(2):224-263.
* (1951) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48056737 "The birds of Coorg. Part II"]. ''JBNHS''. '''50''' (2): 224-263.
* (1951) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48056456 The birds of Coorg. Part I.] JBNHS. 50(1):20-63.
* (1951) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48056456 "The birds of Coorg. Part I"]. ''JBNHS''. '''50''' (1): 20-63.
* (1950) Tangkhul Naga Pottery-Making. Man 50:117-118
* (1950) "Tangkhul Naga Pottery-Making". ''[[Man (journal)|Man]]''. '''50''': 117-118.
* (1950) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48181996 On a collection of butterflies from the Balipara Frontier Tract and the Subansiri Area. (Northern Assam)]. JBNHS 49(3):488-502.
* (1950) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48181996 "On a collection of butterflies from the Balipara Frontier Tract and the Subansiri Area. (Northern Assam)"]. ''JBNHS''. '''49''' (3): 488-502.
* (1948) The flight of Storks on migration. Ibis 90(1):150-151.
* (1948) "The flight of Storks on migration". ''Ibis''. '''90''' (1): 150-151.
* (1947) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48200316 Bird life in an Assam jungle.] JBNHS. 46(4):667-684.
* (1947) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48200316 "Bird life in an Assam jungle"]. ''JBNHS''. '''46''' (4): 667-684.
* (1940) Birds of the Seychelles - 2 . The sea-birds more particularly those of [[Aride Island]]. Ibis (14) 4: 489–504.
* (1940) "Birds of the Seychelles - 2. The sea-birds more particularly those of [[Aride Island]]". ''Ibis'' (14) 4: 489–504.
* (1939) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47591982 The breeding of the Indian Sooty Tern (''Sterna fuscata infuscata'') in the Laccadive Islands.] JBNHS. 40(4):763-764.
* (1939) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47591982 "The breeding of the Indian Sooty Tern (''Sterna fuscata infuscata'') in the Laccadive Islands"]. ''JBNHS''. '''40''' (4): 763-764.
* (1938) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47591503 The birds of the Laccadive Islands.] JBNHS. 40(3):382-387.
* (1938) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47591503 "The birds of the Laccadive Islands"]. ''JBNHS''. '''40''' (3): 382-387.
* (1938) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47602291 Some birds of a Coorg down.] JBNHS. 40(1):39-48.
* (1938) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47602291 "Some birds of a Coorg down"]. ''JBNHS''. '''40''' (1): 39-48.
* (1937) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47591073 Bird life on a southern Indian tank.] JBNHS. 39(3):594-602.
*. (1937) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47591073 "Bird life on a southern Indian tank"] ''JBNHS''. '''39''' (3): 594-602.
* (1936) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47601895 Wanted information about heronries in South India.] JBNHS. 39(1):183.
* (1936) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47601895 "Wanted information about heronries in South India"]. ''JBNHS''. '''39''' (1): 183.
* (1935) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47560936 Nidification of the [[Dark-fronted babbler|Blackheaded Babbler]] ''Rhopocichla a. atriceps'' (Oates).] JBNHS. 38(1):189.
* (1935) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47560936 "Nidification of the Blackheaded Babbler ''Rhopocichla a. atriceps'' (Oates)"]. ''JBNHS''. '''38''' (1): 189.
* (1935) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47560944 Arrival dates of migrant birds in Coorg.] JBNHS. 38(1):197.
* (1935) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47560944 "Arrival dates of migrant birds in Coorg"]. ''JBNHS''. '''38''' (1): 197.
* (1934) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48185501 Dates of arrival of migrant birds in Coorg in 1932.] JBNHS. 37(1):225.
* (1934) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48185501 "Dates of arrival of migrant birds in Coorg in 1932]" ''JBNHS''. '''37''' (1): 225.
* (1934) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48185473 South Indian Woodpeckers.] JBNHS. 37(1):197-203.
* (1934) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48185473 "South Indian Woodpeckers"]. ''JBNHS''. '''37''' (1): 197-203.
* (1932) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48199114 Notes on some Ceylon birds.] JBNHS. 36(1):257-259.
* (1932) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48199114 "Notes on some Ceylon birds"]. ''JBNHS''. '''36''' (1): 257-259.
* (1931) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48294395 The Bulbuls of the Nilgiris.] JBNHS. 34(4):1024-1028.
* (1931) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48294395 "The Bulbuls of the Nilgiris"]. ''JBNHS''. '''34''' (4): 1024-1028.
* (1930) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48296078 Migration notes in 1929 from the Nilgiri District.] JBNHS. 34(2):569.
* (1930) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48296078 "Migration notes in 1929 from the Nilgiri District"]. ''JBNHS''. '''34''' (2): 569.
* (1929) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47489682 Notes on the birds of Coorg.] JBNHS. 33(3):542-551.
* (1929) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47489682 "Notes on the birds of Coorg"]. ''JBNHS''. '''33''' (3): 542-551.
* (1929) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47489890 Bird movements in Coorg.] JBNHS. 33(3):718-719.
* (1929) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47489890 "Bird movements in Coorg"]. ''JBNHS''. '''33''' (3): 718-719.
* (1929) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47489886 Migration of the Pied Crested Cuckoo ''Clamator jacobinus''.] JBNHS. 33(3):714.
* (1929) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47489886 "Migration of the Pied Crested Cuckoo ''Clamator jacobinus''"]. ''JBNHS''. '''33''' (3): 714.
* (1929) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47489886 Distribution of the [[Brown shrike|Brown Shrike]] ''Lanius cristatus cristatus''.] JBNHS. 33(3):714.
* (1929) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47489886" Distribution of the Brown Shrike ''Lanius cristatus cristatus''".] ''JBNHS''. 33(3):714.


== Works based on his life ==
== Works based on his life ==
Two BBC Radio 4 programs, 'The Naga Queen', produced by Chris Eldon Lee and narrated by John Horsley Denton, and 'The Butterfly Hunt', a play by Matthew Solon were based on the life of F. N. Betts and his wife [[Ursula Graham Bower]].
Two [[BBC Radio 4]] programs, ''The Naga Queen'', produced by Chris Eldon Lee and narrated by John Horsley Denton, and ''The Butterfly Hunt'', a play by Matthew Solon were based on the life of F. N. Betts and his wife [[Ursula Graham Bower]].


== References ==
== References ==
Line 76: Line 76:


==Other sources==
==Other sources==
* Ursula Graham Bower. 1950. ''Naga Path''  London, John Murray.
* Bower, Ursula Graham (1950). ''Naga Path''. London, [[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]].
* Ursula Graham Bower. 1953. ''The Hidden Land'' London, John Murray.
* Bower, Ursula Graham (1953). ''The Hidden Land''. London, John Murray.


== External links ==
== External links ==
Line 95: Line 95:
[[Category:People from Launceston, Cornwall]]
[[Category:People from Launceston, Cornwall]]
[[Category:20th-century British zoologists]]
[[Category:20th-century British zoologists]]
[[Category:Members of the Bombay Natural History Society]]

Latest revision as of 07:00, 15 May 2022

Frederick Nicholson Betts
Born25 October 1906
Died22 August 1973 (aged 66)
NationalityBritish
OccupationOrnithologist, Army officer

Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Nicholson Betts (25 October 1906 – 22 August 1973) was a coffee plantation manager, British Indian Army officer, a political agent, and an ornithologist.

Biography[edit]

Photograph of the wedding in Nagaland from The Bombay Chronicle, 9 September 1945

F. N. Betts (known to friends and family as "Tim"), was born in Launceston, Cornwall, in the UK to Barbara Treby Morshead and Herbert Nicholas Betts. He studied at Winchester College from 1920 to 1924. He went to Ceylon and worked in the tea plantations there and later in the coffee plantations in Coorg. He was commissioned in India as a captain in the Punjab Regiment, second lieutenant (12 September 1929,[1] Lt. 20 June 1930,[2] moving from the reserve to the Indian Army on 1 August 1932[3]) and in 1940, was posted to Eritrea. He was later posted lieutenant colonel (intelligence) in the V Force in the Burma campaign, a guerrilla and intelligence unit in north eastern India which made use of Assam Hill tribesmen. Here he met Ursula Graham Bower, an anthropologist studying the Nagas,[4] whom he married in 1945. The couple had two daughters, Catriona and Alison.

In 1946, the government of India made him the first political officer of the Subansiri area between the Assam plains and the McMahon Line (the boundary between India and Tibet). His first task was to march 60 miles into the interior to establish a supply drop zone and to set up a base which could provide supplies for the administrative setup there amid tribes such as the Nyishis and Apa Tanis.

A year after India's independence, he moved to Kenya and served in the veterinary service in the Western Masai Reserve. He later moved from Kenya to the Island of Mull in Scotland where he farmed the Ardura Estate and spent time studying birds, and in 1967 he moved again to the New Forest in Southern England. He died of a stroke when out riding in the New Forest in 1973.[5]

Natural history[edit]

During his time in various remote places he studied the local birds and butterflies. He was among the first to study and report from the remote Khru valley, the Coorg district in southern India as well as from parts of northeast India and Africa. While in India he was an active member of the Bombay Natural History Society. He worked at coffee plantations in Coorg at Coovercully near Somwarpet and Yemmegundi at Pollibetta. His studies of the birds of Coorg during this time led to his major work on the birds of Coorg which he published in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society to "complement" the results of the Mysore survey that Salim Ali was undertaking at around the same time. His work was ahead of his time in that the entire study was based purely on observations and not primarily based on collected skins. He was also among the pioneers of bird photography in India.[6] His notes document the differences in the avifauna of the dry and wet zones of Coorg and also provide arrival dates for local and long-distance migrants. The editors of the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society noted:[7]

Mr F. N. Betts contributed a well illustrated paper on the Birds of a South Indian Tank in the Province of Coorg. Ecological notes of this description covering bird life in relation to a particular environment deserve encouragement and indicate a line of study which might with advantage be followed by others in the country.

Many of his notes on the birdlife of India were used by Salim Ali.[8]

His work in Kenya led to a major paper, "The Birds of Masai". He also took an interest in orchid cultivation. He became a member of the Hampshire Field Club's Ornithological section and of the Hampshire Naturalists' Trust. He was secretary of the New Forest Beagles, served on the New Forest Consultative Panel, and was a treasurer of the Burley Branch of the British Legion.

Publications[edit]

JBNHS here is short for the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.

Works based on his life[edit]

Two BBC Radio 4 programs, The Naga Queen, produced by Chris Eldon Lee and narrated by John Horsley Denton, and The Butterfly Hunt, a play by Matthew Solon were based on the life of F. N. Betts and his wife Ursula Graham Bower.

References[edit]

  1. "India Office". The Times Weekly Edition. 9 January 1930. p. 2.
  2. "Army in India Reserve of Officers". The Times Weekly Edition. 14 August 1930. p. 33.
  3. "Army in India Reserve of Officers". The Times Weekly Edition. 6 October 1932. p. 35.
  4. "Ursula and the Naked Nagas". Time. 1 January 1945.
  5. Obituary from the Winchester College magazine, The Wykehamist, 1222. 7 November 1973.
  6. Bates, R.S.P. & E.H.N. Lowther (1952). "The history of bird-photography in India". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 50: 779–784.
  7. Editors. 1937. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. XL: 346.
  8. Ali, S. (1982). "Foreword". Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 22 (11–12): 2.

Other sources[edit]

  • Bower, Ursula Graham (1950). Naga Path. London, John Murray.
  • Bower, Ursula Graham (1953). The Hidden Land. London, John Murray.

External links[edit]