Peter Scott

Sir Peter Markham Scott (1909 - 1989), ornithologist and painter, was born in London, the only child of Sir Robert Falcon Scott. He was educated at Oundle and Cambridge University. He inherited his artistic talent from his mother, Kathleen, and had his first exhibition in London in 1933. In 1936, he represented the United Kingdom at sailing in the Olympic Games.

During World War II, Scott served in the navy, emulating his father. In 1948, he founded the organisation with which he was ever afterwards closely associated, the Severn Wildfowl Trust (now the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) with its headquarters at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire. In the years that followed, he led several ornithological expeditions worldwide, and became a television personality, popularising the study of wildfowl and wetlands. He wrote and ilustrated several books on the subject, including his autobiography, The Eye of the Wind (1961).