Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria |
Born at Elwood (Melbourne), Vic, on 28 September 1856; died at his residence, Zoological Gardens (Royal Park), Melbourne, Vic, on 6 September 1923.
One of ten children of Albert Alexander Cochrane Se Souef (1828-1923), the patriarch of a family that influenced Australian zoos for over 50 years.
William Henry Dudley Le Souef (Dudley)
was educated for the greater part at Crediton
Grammar School, Devonshire, England.
He was
first employed as the Assistant Secretary of the
Zoological and Acclimatization Society of Victoria
between 1874 and 1890, and then as the
Assistant-Director of the Melbourne Zoological
Gardens between 1890 and 1902. He later took
over the role of Director from his father (Albert
A.C. Le Souef) in 1902, a post he held until his
untimely death on 6 September 1923 after suffering a stroke.
He had previously sustained
severe head injuries, from which he never fully recovered, when he was attacked by two men
when retuning to the Gardens from the city with the zoo staff wages.
He was survived
by his, wife Edith Evelyn Le Souef [née Wadeson], and their six children.
Source: Extracted from book: 'Passions in Ornithology: A century of Australian Egg Collectors' (2020), Mason & Pfitzner, Canberra. [consult for source references]
Portrait Photo: Extracted from: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudley_Le_Sou%C3%ABf .