Perry, William (Bill)   (1911 - 1995)

Born on 22 August 1911 at Bendigo, Victoria; died on 5 March 1995 at Eaglehawk, near Bendigo, Victoria.

Born of Cornish stock, when only eight years old his mother died and his father re-married a widow with three daughters. His father was a keen amateur naturalist and this rubbed off onto Bill.

Mines which still dominated life in Eaglehawk and Bendigo became a source of fascination. His grandfather Sam Bartlett had been manager of the famous South New Moon Mine.

At fourteen Bill left school to first work in a market garden; then in a boot repairer, finally before the weight of depression set in, he became an apprentice tin smith.

Bill experienced unemployment, looked for alluvial gold, and sank a shaft with his brother Jack. Bill made cyanide tanks, and later became a plumber on his own account.

After a long courtship he married Gwen Walls in 1937, who was to be his companion for fifty eight years.

When in his mid forties he took permanent employment at the Bendigo Railway Workshops, later appointed as sheetmetal instructor at the Bendigo Training Prison.

In his youth he was an enthusiastic member of the Eaglehawk Rifle Club, and it was in their company that he first began to observe the plants of the bush. Gradually his interest in flora and fauna supplanted that in shooting and he became an acknowledged authority on the flora of the Bendigo Whipstick.

He was elected as a country member of The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria on 8 June 1942 and three years later became one of the foundation members of the Bendigo Field Naturalists Club, and their first librarian.

Between 1945 and 1969 Bill contributed a number of articles and notes to The Victorian Naturalist and a glance at these indicates the breadth of his interest in natural history; birds, ants and spiders fascinated him, as well as orchids and acacias. He was also an accomplished photographer.

He was always ready to share his love of the bush and his knowledge of the Whipstick region with visiting naturalists such as English botanist Ronald Melville.

In August 1982 the Bendigo Field Naturalists Club hosted the Victorian Field Naturalists Clubs Association weekend and it was at this gathering that William Perry was awarded the certificate of Honorary Membership of The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, in recognition of his contribution to natural history over forty years' membership.

He authored Tales of the Whipstick (1975) and The End of an Era: Life in old Eaglehawk and Bendigo (published posthumously in 1995). .

Source: Extracted from:
The Victorian Naturalist F.N.C.V. Volume 112 (4) 1995 August p.183 - Obituary: William Perry (1911-1995)
http://www.bendigofieldnaturalists.asn.au/uploads/2/5/8/6/25865278/bfnchistory19451985webversion.pdf
https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/product/the-end-of-an-era-life-in-old-eaglehawk-and-bendigo-by-william-perry-second-hand-book/?srsltid=AfmBOoriEQRPzBWW3y-L3PXg5HEoNyt8qu0SbQLNRWGcj2n7-yVEz4QR the end of an era: life in old Eaglehawk and Bendigo by William Perry
Portrait Photo: Undated, in 'THE NATURALIST IN BENDIGO - A History of the Bendigo Field Naturalists Club 1945-1985', by Ray Wallace.

Collecting localities for 'Perry, W.' from AVH (2026)

Data from 733 specimens