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SUMMARY:
Multiple newspaper clippings from early September 1923 report Miss Joan Proctor’s appointment as Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoo/London Zoological Gardens, noting her prior work with reptiles and aquarium rockwork design. One clipping discusses Miss Cheesman’s temporary withdrawal from the insect curator post for a South Pacific expedition and mentions related figures and institutions.

CONTENT:
SEPTEMBER, 1923
THE CHURCH MILITANT

Miss Joan Proctor, F.L.S., F.Z.S., has been appointed
Curator of the Reptiles at the Zoo, in which department she
has been working since 1916.

THE NEWS OF THE WORLD SEPT. 2. 1923.

THE ZOO LADY CURATOR OF REPTILES.
Miss Joan B. Proctor, who has been appointed Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoo. She
is seen wearing one of her charges as a necklet.

Cutting from the Worcester Daily Times
Address of Publication
Issue dated 4.9.23

In view of her appointment on the personnel
of the Scientific Expeditionary Research As-
sociation's coming expedition to the South
Pacific, Miss Cheesman, who in 1917 became
curator of insects in the London Zoo under
Professor Maxwell Lefroy, will be temporarily
withdrawn from that position. Miss Chees-
man enjoys the distinction of having been the
first lady curator appointed by the Zoological
Society, and during her tenure of the post she
has created almost a revolution in the beauti-
ful insect house presented some years ago by
the late Sir William Caird. The Society has
also quite recently appointed a lady curator of
reptiles, in the person of Miss Jean Proctor,
F.Z.S., F.L.S., who for several years she
worked in the reptile department of the Brit-
ish Museum as voluntary assistant to Dr. Bou-
lenger, and latterly in full charge. It was
curious that the only lady curators who
specialise in creepy-crawly forms of life.

Canadian
Lepto
Bosses Snakes
CANADIAN

Miss Joan Proctor, an English girl
of 25, has just been appointed curator
of reptiles at the London Zoological
Gardens. She is one of the best
known experts on snakes in the
world.

Cutting from the Liverpool Courier
Address of Publication
Issue dated 4.9.23

HER REPTILIAN FAMILY.
The second of the lady curators
appointed by the Zoological Society, Miss
Joan Procter, will take over her duties
in charge of the reptiles at Regent's
Park during the autumn.
Miss Procter has plenty of practical
experience of these strange pets, for,
apart from work which she has fulfilled
in the reptile department of the Museum
at South Kensington, she has for several
years kept a private collection of live
snakes and batrachians. She has designed
the whole of the rockwork for the new
aquarium at the Zoo.

SUMMARY:
Clippings announce E. G. Boulenger’s promotion to Director of the new aquarium and Joan B. Procter’s appointment as Curator of Reptiles, outlining her background and expertise. Additional coverage describes progress and features planned for the new aquarium.

CONTENT:
THE TIMES, THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1923.

Mr. E. G. Boulenger has been appointed
Director of the new Aquarium at the Zoo,
and Miss Joan B. Procter has been appointed
Curator of Reptiles. (p. 9)

WOMAN CURATOR OF
REPTILES.

APPOINTMENTS AT THE
ZOO.

Mr. E. G. Boulenger, at present Curator of
Reptiles at the Zoological Gardens, has been
appointed Director of the new Aquarium.
He will continue to exercise a general super-
vision over the reptiles, but for some time he
has been very fully occupied with superintend-
ing the construction of the aquarium, and
when the tanks are ready for occupation it is
anticipated that his time will be almost com-
pletely engaged by his new duties. Mr.
Boulenger is a son of Dr. G. A. Boulenger,
F.R.S., for long chief of the Department of
Reptiles, Batrachians, and Fishes at the
British Museum of Natural History. Since
Mr. Boulenger has been Curator at the Zoo
the reptile-house has been greatly improved,
and the collection made one of the finest in
the world. During the war he served in
France with the balloons.

Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., has
been appointed Curator of Reptiles, and will
assume her duties in late autumn. She was
educated at St. Paul's School for Girls, and
since 1916 has worked in the Reptile Depart-
ment at the British Museum, first as voluntary
assistant to Dr. Boulenger, and, since his
retirement, in charge. She is the author of a
large number of papers on the anatomy,
classification, and habits of reptiles and
batrachians, and for many years has kept a
private collection of living snakes and batra-
chians. At present Miss Procter is still carry-
ing on the work of the Reptile Department
at the Museum, but is also engaged in design-
ing the rockwork for the aquarium tanks at
the Zoo.

Cutting from the Hull Daily Mail
Address of Publication.
Issue dated. 20.7.25

Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., an Englishwoman
of 25, has been appointed curator
of reptiles at the Zoo. She will have com-
plete charge of dozens of venomous cobras,
deadly pythons, boa constrictors, alligators,
and crocodiles. Miss Procter, unknown to the
world at large, is famous among zoologists as
one of the greatest snake experts of the day.

THE EVENING STANDARD.

ZOO AQUARIUM
PROGRESS.

NEW CURATOR ON WONDERS OF
COMING ATTRACTIONS.

£50,000 COST.

HOW LONDONERS WILL SEE
SEALS UNDER WATER.

Mr. E. G. Boulenger, the curator of rep-
tiles at the Zoological Gardens, who has
been appointed director of the new aquarium
which is expected to be completed at the
end of the year, gave some interesting de-
tails in an interview to-day of the progress
of the work.

Mr. Boulenger is a son of Dr. G. A.
Boulenger, F.R.S., formerly chief of the de-
partment of reptiles and fishes at the British
Museum of Natural History, South Kensing-
ton.

One of the Finest in the World.

"We began building the aquarium," he said,
"at the beginning of December. When it is
finished—we hope before the end of the year—
the aquarium should be one of the finest in
the world. It is being built under Mappin Ter-
races, and the tanks have been supervised by
myself and Miss Joan Procter, who has just
been appointed Curator of Reptiles, and is
taking over my duties in the autumn.

"The aquarium will be for fresh water and
marine animals, and the tanks will be faced
with plate glass 1¼ inches thick. This glass is
very expensive, and is a big item in the total
cost of £50,000.

"We are getting our sea-water from the Bay
of Biscay, and it will be brought in the ballast
tanks of large vessels to the docks and trans-
ferred there to barges, which will bring it up
along the Regent's Canal to the Zoo. It will be
piped from the barges into the tanks by means
of long fire hoses.

"Mr. Compton Mackenzie has given us a
quantity of shell sand from the Island of Herm
which he owns for some of the tank floors. This
shell sand is remarkable, for every grain is a
tiny shell.

Open Trout Pool.

"We will have an elaborate system of reser-
voirs, filtering arrangements, and plant for
heating, lighting, and ventilating, and the
aquarium, which will be 400ft. long, will be
divided into three parts.

"The fresh-water hall will have 25 tanks, the
marine hall 20, and the tropical hall 40. We
will have an open trout pool, a big octagonal
tank for marine turtle, and a tank for seals
under water.

"We will have a wonderful collection of
tropical fish brilliantly coloured and equal to the
finest in the world.

"Not even the New York Aquarium will sur-
pass it in the beauty of its contents."

The new aquarium, when it is completed, will
probably prove one of the biggest attractions at
Regent's Park.

Miss Procter, the new Curator of Reptiles,
was educated at St. Paul's School for Girls,
and since 1916 has worked in the Reptile De-
partment at the British Museum, first as volun-
tary assistant to Dr. Boulenger.

SUMMARY:
Press cuttings report Miss Joan Proctor’s appointment as curator of reptiles at the London Zoo, describe her lifelong interest in reptiles and her unusual pets, and note her experiments with axolotls. Additional New Zealand clippings reprise the news and include a light verse celebrating her fearlessness.

CONTENT:
Cutting from the Dundee Telegraph
Address of Publication
Issue dated

23. 7. 23

GIRL ZOO CURATOR AND
HER QUEER PALS.
Boa Constrictor and
Crocodile as Playmates.
Turning a "Water Creature" Dry.

Miss Joan Proctor, the young girl who
has been appointed curator of reptiles at
the London Zoo, is somewhat shy to talk
about her life work, which has been the
study of creatures from which the average
person turns with a shudder.

A slightly-built, smiling girl, with a pleasant
expression, she is now busily engaged
in the new aquarium in course of construction
at the Zoo.

It was with reluctance that she admitted
her identity. Asked when she began to be
interested in snakes, she replied—

"I never did begin, I have always been
interested in them. I have worked among
them since the time I left school. I have
been at the Natural History Museum so far,
and I am coming to my new post here in
November.

"Yes, I have kept a great many pets of
all sorts," she continued. "Which is the
most unusual? Oh, they are all considered
unusual. Among them was a boa constrictor.
It is in the reptile house now—five
feet long and perfectly tame. I kept it at
home, and usually had it loose. It was shut
up at night. Of course, I did not allow it
to be about in the same room with the
cat. It would have eaten pussy.

"I have also had a crocodile, an alligator,
and all sorts of snakes and lizards. I have
never had the slightest trouble with them.
They were all great pets and quite tame."
When asked if she had trained any of her
peculiar pets to do tricks, Miss Proctor
merely smiled and said she did not want
anything theatrical to be said about her and
her pets.

She thinks, however, that the reptile
house is one of the most popular places in
the Zoo, especially with children.
"Children," she said, "are not afraid of
the reptiles."

Miss Proctor's own collection of animals,
it may be added, is a considerable one.
The crocodile to which she referred was her
playmate when she was quite a little girl
of seven years old. It, however, only lived
two years.

To see her making friends with a Brazilian
mongoose snake, which is one of her
favourites at present, would scare the ordinary
girl. A small python is also one of
her present possessions, and she has a number
of lizards.

Recently she succeeded with certain experiments
in regard to axolotls. She
managed to change the habits of one of
them by scientifically reducing his allowance
of water, and transformed it from a water
creature to a land creature.

New Zealand
DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1923.
THE EVENING STAR,
WOMAN AS SNAKE EXPERT.
IMPORTANT APPOINTMENT.

LONDON, July 20.
(Received July 21, at 11 a.m.)
The Daily Express says that Miss
Joan Proctor, an English girl, aged
twenty-five, has been appointed curator
of reptiles at the London Zoological Gardens.
Her grandfather was a famous herpetologist.
Miss Proctor had her first
pet snake when she was ten years of age.
One day she received a crocodile as a present,
and took it to Dr Boulenger, head of
the department of reptiles in the Natural
History Museum at South Kensington.
He was astonished at Miss Proctor's
knowledge, and offered to train her. She
became Dr Boulenger's assistant when she
was eighteen, and succeeded him when he
resigned. She is one of the greatest
snake experts in the world, and is a
fellow of the Zoological and Linnæan Societies.—A.
and N.Z. Cable.

DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1923.
THE EVENING STAR.
New Zealand

Joan Proctor was a little maid
Who never learnt to be afraid
Of caterpillars, slugs, or worms,
Or anything that creeps or squirm.

The birthday gift that first would fill her
With gladness was a caterpillar.
But great was her rejoicing when,
Attaining to the age of ten,
Some kindly friend contrived to make
A present of a lovely snake.

This gift with some might well beget
Dislike of a reptilian pet;
But Joan's small soul was tickled greatly.
She loved that serpent passionately!
And often (when the day was fine)
She bathed it in the Serpentine.
This lasted for a little while,
And then the sweetest crocodile,
With legs and jaws and tail complete,
Was sent her for a birthday treat.

Too lovely to enjoy alone,
She took it to South Kensington.
Thus opened her career of fame,
And soon our heroine became
The highest number on the lists
Of female serpentologists.
So great her reputation grew
That now she's been promoted to
Command the snake-house at the Zoo!

MORAL
So, little girls, be sure you keep
From fear of things that crawl and creep.
Whene'er you're terrified or scared,
Just think of how Joan Proctor fared.

SUMMARY:
Press clippings report that Miss Joan Procter, aged 25, has been appointed curator of reptiles at the London Zoological Gardens, highlighting her lifelong expertise with snakes and her prior work at South Kensington. Coverage includes details of her scientific distinctions and international recognition.

CONTENT:
The Girls' Own Free Press

MEETS CRAWLY THINGS
FROM ZOO AS FRIENDS

Woman Appointed Curator of Rep-
tiles at London

Girls who are afraid of mice, spid-
ers, beetles, newts, snakes, and such
unfamiliar things may shudder at
hearing that Miss Joan Procter has
been appointed curator of the rep-
tiles at the Zoo in London, England.
Miss Procter does not shudder at
any kind of animal, for they are her
familiars, especially snakes. She
began keeping snakes as pets when
she was ten. When she was eigh-
teen she became an assistant in the
reptiles department at South Ken-
sington.
Now, at 25, she goes to the Zoo to
be the friend of all the crawly and
cold-blooded things, as she is the
friend of the collection she keeps
in her home.

WINNIPEG, SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 1923.
THE WINNIPEG EVENING TRIBUNE.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 1923

SNAKE EXPERT

Accordingly, as soon as
she left school she became Dr. Bou-
lenger's assistant, this at the age of
eighteen, and when he resigned she
was appointed to his post. Last year
the New York Zoological Society of-
fered her a job, but she would not
leave the Kensington Museum. Now,
of course, she will have to give up her
work there.

The young expert came into real
contact with the zoological society at
the age of nineteen when she read her
first paper, on pit snakes, before them.
A year later they made her F.Z.S.
At the beginning of July she gained
another distinction by being elected
F.L.S., Fellow of the Linnæan Society,
one of the foremost scientific organi-
zations in the world.
Being surrounded by snakes during
her attendance at the zoo apparently
is not enough for Miss Proctor, and
she keeps six Brazilian snakes in a
glass cage in her drawing-room. These
were sent her as a gift. Noted scien-
tists in South America and South
Africa have frequently sent rare and
deadly reptiles to England, knowing
her interest, and most of these she
keeps at her own home.

MISS JOAN PROCTOR, F.Z.S., F.L.S.
Miss Proctor has been appointed
curator of reptiles at the Zoological
Gardens. She is 25 years old and
acknowledged to be one of the great-
est authorities on snakes in the world,
and the ease with which she handles
even the most deadly specimens is
astonishing. Her last post was that
of chief of the department of reptiles
at the Natural History Museum,
South Kensington. Miss Proctor re-
cently refused an offer from the Zoo-
logical Society of New York.
Miss Proctor does not shudder at
any kind of animal, for they are her
familiars, especially snakes. She be-
gan keeping snakes as pets when she
was ten. When she was 18 she be-
came an assistant in the reptiles' de-
partment at South Kensington.
Now she goes to the Zoo to be the
friend of all the crawly and cold
blooded things, as she is the friend
of the collection she keeps in her
home.

New York Tribune.
5 AUG 1923

Reptiles Put
Under Care of
Woman Expert

Snakes Are Special Pets of
Miss Joan Proctor, Who
Has Been Appointed as a
Curator in London Zoo

LONDON,
Snakes and crocodiles are not per-
haps, the most pleasant creatures with
which to live, but Miss Joan Proctor
evidently thinks otherwise. This
young Englishwoman has just been
appointed curator of the reptile house
at the London Zoological Gardens,
where she will have entire charge of
the cobras, the pythons, the alligators
and all the other reptiles.
Miss Proctor's grandfather was a
famous entomologist, so possibly her
interest and aptitude in the subject
are inherited. It certainly looks as
though she is going to become as well
known as he was, for already she is
looked on by zoologists as one of the
greatest of snake experts.
When in her very early teens she
happened to visit the chief of the rep-
tile department at the South Kensing-
ton Natural History Museum and so
astonished him by her knowledge of
ophiology—she had kept snakes and
lizards as pets since her tenth birth-
day—that he offered to train her in
the subject.

SOUTH AFRICAN PAPER
FAMOUS SNAKE EXPERT

Girl Scientist Who Does
Not Advertise

Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., an
Englishwoman of 25 (who does not adver-
tise herself), has been appointed curator
of reptiles at the London Zoo. She will
have complete charge of dozens of venom-
ous cobras, deadly pythons, boa constric-
tors, alligators and crocodiles.
Miss Procter, unknown to the world at
large (for she does not advertise herself),
is famous among zoologists as one of the
greatest snake experts of the day.
Johannesburg
Sunday Times

Girl Is World Snake Expert

Miss Joan Proctor, the twenty-
three-year-old girl recently made
curator of reptiles in the London
Zoological Gardens, had her first pet
snake when ten years old and her
knowledge of crocodiles brought her
the assistance of Dr. Boulenger, head
of the department of reptiles, several
years ago. She was 15 when she be-
came his assistant and succeeded
him when he resigned. She is one of
the greatest snake experts in the
world.
AMERICAN PAPER
HARTFORD COURANT
ARIZONA, U.S.A.

SUMMARY:
Press clippings report Miss Joan Proctor’s appointment as curator of reptiles at the London Zoological Gardens, highlighting her expertise with snakes and her work at the British Museum and South Kensington’s Natural History Museum. Items include notices from Ottawa, the New York Tribune, and the Adelaide Register dated October 1923.

CONTENT:
OTTAWA
BOSSES SNAKES.
City (Ottawa)

Miss Joan Proctor, an English
girl of 25, has just been appointed
curator of reptiles at the London
Zoological Gardens. She is one of
the best known experts on snakes
in the world.

RULES SNAKES

JEAN PROCTOR.
(Kadri & Herbert Photo.)
This young woman has special-
ized in the study of reptiles and is
said to be able to handle snakes
which would be enraged at the
touch of the ordinary person and
show the resentment by a poison-
ous bite. Miss Proctor recently be-
came curator of reptiles at the Lon-
don Zoological gardens.

from the
Press of Publication
dated
Register
Adelaide
Oct 16-1923

CURATOR OF REPTILES AT THE LONDON "ZOO," MISS
JOAN PROCTOR, WITH A FRIEND.

Preserving reptile to the daily occupation of Miss Joan Proc-
tor, F.Z.S., F.L.S. In her spare time she studies their habits. One
of the greatest experts on snakes in her day, Miss Proctor has
worked since 1916 in the reptile department at the British
Museum—first as a voluntary assistant, and then as expert in
charge. She is the author of a large number of papers on the
anatomy, classification, and habits of reptiles and batrachians,
and owns a private collection of living specimens.

Cutting from the
Address of Publication
Issue dated
Register
Adelaide
Oct 11/23

Her Reptilian Family.
The second of the lady curators ap-
pointed by the Zoological Society, Miss
Joan Proctor, will take over her duties
in charge of the reptiles at Regent's Park
during the autumn. Miss Proctor has
plenty of practical experience of these
strange pets, for, apart from work which
she has fulfilled in the reptile department,
of the museum at South Kensington, she
has for several years kept a private collec-
tion of live snakes and batrachians. She
has designed the whole of the rockwork
for the new aquarium at the Zoo.

NEW YORK
TRIBUNE
Reptiles Put
Under Care of
Woman Expert

Snakes Are Special Pets of
Miss Joan Proctor, Who
Has Been Appointed as a
Curator in London Zoo

New York Trib. LONDON,
Snakes and crocodiles are not, per-
haps, the most pleasant creatures with
which to live, but Miss Joan Proctor
evidently thinks otherwise. This
young Englishwoman has just been
appointed curator of the reptile house
at the London Zoological Gardens,
where she will have entire charge of
the cobras, the pythons, the alligators
and all the other reptiles.
Miss Proctor's grandfather was a
famous entomologist, so possibly her
interest and aptitude in the subject
are inherited. It certainly looks as
though she is going to become as well
known as he was, for already she is
looked on by zoologists as one of the
greatest of snake experts.
When in her very early teens she
happened to visit the chief of the rep-
tile department at the South Kensing-
ton Natural History Museum and so
astonished him by her knowledge of
ophiology—she had kept snakes and
lizards as pets since her tenth birth-
day—that he offered to train her in
the subject. Accordingly, as soon as
she left school she became Dr. Bou-
lenger's assistant, this at the age of
eighteen, and when he resigned she
was appointed to his post. Last year
the New York Zoological Society of-
fered her a job, but she would not
leave the Kensington Museum. Now,
of course, she will have to give up her
work there.
The young expert came into real
contact with the zoological society at
the age of nineteen when she read her
first paper, on pit snakes, before them.
A year later they made her F. Z. S.
At the beginning of July she gained
another distinction by being elected
F. L. S., Fellow of the Linnean Society,
one of the foremost scientific organi-
zations in the world.
Being surrounded by snakes during
her attendance at the zoo apparently
is not enough for Miss Proctor, and
she keeps six Brazilian snakes in a
glass cage in her drawing-room. These
were sent her as a gift. Noted scien-
tists in South America and South
Africa have frequently sent rare and
deadly reptiles to England, knowing
her interest, and most of these she
keeps at her own home.

SUMMARY:
Newspaper cuttings report record attendance at the Zoological Society's Gardens, the near-completion of the Aquarium, and staffing changes including Miss Joan Procter becoming Curator of Reptiles. Articles from The Times, Cape Argus, Sunday Mail (Brisbane), and Yorkshire Post highlight new zoo arrivals and Procter's expertise with reptiles.

CONTENT:
THE TIMES, SATURDAY,
DECEMBER 29, 1923.

THE ZOO IN 1923.

RECENT ADDITIONS.
Although there is still the attendance on
Sunday and the attendance and gate money
of Monday to be placed to the credit of the
year, 1923 has already established a "record"
in the history of the Zoological Society. The
number of visitors has been over 1,600,000—
that is to say, larger than the total of 1920,
which until now was the largest attendance in
any one year. The gate money has increased
in proportion also, and the total number of
Fellows, as well as the number of new Fellows
elected, and the receipts from subscriptions,
are also the largest in the history of the
Society.
There have been, too, an unusual number
of important additions to the collection, so
that now there is an exceptionally fine display
of mammals, birds, reptiles, and batrachians.
Among the additions of special interest are a
young African elephant presented by Sir
Horace Byatt, two young giraffes, purchased
from the Sudan and South Africa respectively,
two great anteaters, purchased from South
America, and the recently acquired walrus.
There have been important changes of staff.
Mr. R. I. Pocock, formerly superintendent,
has retired on pension on attaining the age
of 60, and has been replaced by Dr. G. M.
Vevers; Mr. D. Seth Smith, formerly Curator
of Birds, has been promoted to be Resident
Curator of Mammals and Birds; Mr. E. G.
Boulenger has left the Reptile House to be-
come Director of the new Aquarium, and has
been succeeded by Miss Joan B. Procter, who
was formerly in charge of the reptiles and
batrachians at the British Museum. The staff
of keepers has been subjected to careful sur-
vey, and there have been rewards and promo-
tions for the more competent, while some of
the older men have been retired on pension.
The Council and the Garden Committee
have made great efforts to improve the general
condition of the animals and of the gardens,
and much more than has been possible in
recent years has been done to improve the
general hygienic conditions and to repair and
redecorate houses and enclosures. The largest
and most expensive work of the year has been
the construction of the Aquarium. This is
now practically completed, only minor details
of lighting and decoration being still in hand.
The difficult business of stocking has begun,
and it is anticipated that it will be opened
to Fellows and the public in the first fort-
night of April.

ZOO VISITORS: A RECORD.
During 1923 the visitors to the Zoological
Society's Gardens, Regent's Park, numbered
1,613,125, an increase of 185,276 as compared
with 1922.
The number of visitors last year was the
largest in the history of the Society.

from the Yorkshire Post
of Publication Leeds
Dated. 24.12.29
HOLIDAYS IN LONDON.

HOW TO ENTERTAIN THE
CHILDREN.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
"NO," the clerk in a large theatre
office told me, "they don't dare
to try new Christmas plays in the
West End. The old favourites are good
enough for them. You must go to the
theatres further out if you want something
new in the way of plays for the children
this Christmas."

The morning is often a difficult time to
entertain children in London, but the Zoo is
always open, and several new and interest-
ing inmates have arrived since last holidays.
Small boys frequently have a liking
for creepy beasts, and the new reptile
house, presided over by that young snake
charmer, Miss Joan Procter, should give
them the necessary thrills. Baby animals
to rejoice the heart of the motherly little
girl are also plentiful at the Zoo this
Christmas. There is Percy, the six-
months-old pigmy hippopotamus, already
becoming quite friendly with visitors,
while in a pen close by is the slightly older
African baby elephant. It is amusing to
see Andy, the youthful walrus, being fed,
for, although he is five months old, he has
not a single tooth, and his food—cut up
strips of cod fish—is placed in his mouth
by his attendant. For sheer grace and
agility, the baby antelopes surpass any-
thing I have ever seen, and one can under-
stand their having an audience round their
cage quite as enthusiastic as that which
greets the Fairy Queen in the pantomime.

Telephone No. Central 7980.
International Press-Cutting Bureau

14. New Bridge Street, London, E.C.4.

Extract from
CAPE ARGUS
CAPE TOWN.

Date

13. DEC 1923

Girl Curator of Reptiles.—The new
Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoo-
logical Gardens is a young woman. Miss
Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., is a
recognised authority in this branch of
science: in fact, she is said to know
more about snakes and reptiles than
any woman in the world. Until now
she has been in charge of the Reptile
Department at the British Museum of
Natural History. Miss Procter has a
special instinct for the handling of
poisonous snakes. She has not the
slightest dread of any kind of reptile.

International Press-Cutting Bureau,

Extract from
SUNDAY MAIL
BRISBANE.

Date 4 NOV 1923

CURATOR OF REPTILES

Woman Appointed

Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., an
Englishwoman of 25, has been appointed
curator of reptiles at the Zoo in London.
She has complete charge of dozens of
venomous cobras, deadly pythons, boa
constrictors, alligators and crocodiles.
Miss Procter, unknown to the world
at large, is famous among zoologists as
one of the greatest snake experts of the
day. The large, tiny room in the base-
ment of the Museum of Natural History,
South Kensington, in which she works
is filled with deadly snakes, some bottled
and some alive.
"Her interest in the subject is pro-
bably hereditary," said her mother
a Press correspondent. "Her grandfather
was a famous entomologist."
Miss Procter opened a glass cage in
her drawing-room and six beautiful
Brazilian snakes, which were sent to her
daughter as a gift, she allowed them to
climb and wriggle and coil around her arm.
"At the age of ten my daughter had
her first snake as a pet." Mrs. Procter
added. "She also kept many lizards, most
of them remarkably tame. One day she
received a large and valuable crocodile
as a present, and we took it to Dr. G. A.
Boulenger, the famous chief of the de-
partment of reptiles at the Natural
History Museum at South Kensington.
"He was astonished at my daughter's
knowledge of ophiology, and offered to
train her on the subject when she left
St. Paul's School. She became his assis-
tant when she was 18, and when he re-
signed she was appointed to his post.
Scientists in South Africa and South
America have sent Miss Procter rare and
deadly reptiles from jungles and swamps.
Occasionally a crate for them has been
overturned on arrival, and they have
been spilled on the floor. Miss Procter,
without the slightest fear, has collected
the poisonous creatures from their hiding
places.
She read her first paper on "The Pygmy
Snake," before the Zoological Society at
the age of 19. She was made a Fellow of
the society at 20. She was elected a
Fellow of the Linnaean Society, one of
the foremost scientific organisations in
the world, last August. She is also a
Fellow of the Zoological Society of Bom-
bay, and last year was offered a remu-
nerative post by the Zoological Society of
New York.

SUMMARY:
Press cuttings report Miss Joan B. Procter’s appointment as Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoo, outlining her background at the British Museum and work on the new aquarium. Another clipping notes related staff changes, including Miss Cheeseman’s temporary replacement during a South Pacific expedition.

CONTENT:
For
DURRANT'S PRESS CUTTINGS
St. Andrew's House, 32 to 34 Holborn Viaduct
and 3 St. Andrew Street Holborn Circus, E.C. 1
TELEPHONE: CITY 4963.

Pall Mall Gazette and Globe
25 Tudor Street, E.C.4.

Cutting from issue dated. 19 JUL 1929

CURATOR OF REPTILES.

WOMAN'S APPOINTMENT AT
THE ZOO.

Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S.,
F.L.S., has been appointed Curator
of Reptiles at the Zoo, and will as-
sume her duties in late autumn. She
was educated at St. Paul's School for
Girls, and since 1916 has worked in
the Reptile Department at the British
Museum, first as voluntary assistant
to Dr Boulenger, and, since his re-
tirement, in charge.
She is the author of a large num-
ber of papers on the anatomy, classi-
fication, and habits of reptiles and
batrachians, and for many years
(says the "Times") has kept a
private collection of living snakes and
batrachians.
At present Miss Procter is still car-
rying on the work of the Reptile De-
partment at the Museum, but is also
engaged in designing the rockwork
for the aquarium tanks at the Zoo.

25 AUG 1923

An English girl of twenty-five has been
appointed curator of reptiles at the London
Zoo. When one considers how badly
woman managed the first serpent in history,
the appointment seems a little surprising.
Cutting from the People
Address of Publication
Issue dated. 22. 7. 23

WOMAN'S SNAKE PETS.

HANDLED REPTILES FROM
CHILDHOOD.

A woman has been appointed curator
of reptiles at the Zoo and will, from
November next, be responsible for
those creeping and crawling things that
are so fascinating and attractive—be-
hind the thick glass. She is Miss Joan
B. Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., and is recog-
nised among scientists as one of the
foremost authorities on snakes.
As curator she will have in her care
deadly cobras, pythons and boa con-
strictors, alligators and crocodiles.
Miss Procter is taking the place of
Mr. F. G. Boulenger, who becomes the
director of the new aquarium.
Seen at the Zoo, Miss Procter was
too busy, she said, and seemed too
retiring and diffident to discuss off-
hand her special interests. She was
consulting over the rockwork of the
new aquarium now being built under
the Mappin Terraces at the Zoo.
Her grandfather was a noted au-
thority on insects, so that her own in-
terest in reptiles is probably heredi-
tary.
At her home in South Kensington she
has quite an extensive collection of
living creatures. At ten years of age
she had a pet snake, and has had
presents of six Brazilian snakes and a
crocodile.
When only nineteen she read a paper
before the Zoological Society, and was
made a Fellow the next year.
Cutting from the Yorkshire Post
Address of Publication Leeds
Issue dated. 3-9-25

Zoo's Lady Curators.

In view of her appointment on the per-
sonnel of the Scientific Expeditionary Re-
search Association's coming expedition to
the South Pacific, Miss Cheeseman, who
in 1917 became curator of insects in the
London Zoo under Professor Maxwell
Lefroy, will be temporarily withdrawn from
that position, and replaced by Mr. L. C.
Bushby, of the Royal College of Science.
Miss Cheeseman enjoys the distinction of
having been the first lady curator
appointed by the Zoological Society, and
during her tenure of the post she has
created almost a revolution in the beauti-
ful insect house presented some years ago
by the late Sir William Caird. The build-
ing took the place of a much older one
which for many years had been specially
associated with insect life, and which stood
close to the south entrance to the Gardens.
The Society has also quite recently
appointed a lady curator of reptiles, in the
person of Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S.,
F.L.S., who for several years has worked
in the reptile department of the British
Museum as voluntary assistant to Dr.
Boulenger, and latterly in full charge.
She is expected to take over her new duties
in the course of the coming autumn.

SUMMARY:
Press cuttings profile Miss Joan Procter/Proctor as Curator of Reptiles at the Zoological Gardens of London, noting her expertise, refusal of a New York offer, and her design work for the new aquarium. Items also mention E. G. Boulenger’s appointment to direct the aquarium and related details.

CONTENT:
Snake Expert.
THE AMERICAN
AUG. 1923

Photo by Kadel & Herbert.
MISS JOAN PROCTOR.
Not an ordinary snake charmer
is Miss Proctor, F. Z. S. F. L. S.,
but Curator of Reptiles at the
Zoological Gardens of London.
She is an English girl, twenty-five
years of age, and regarded the
greatest authority on snakes in
the world. She recently refused
an offer from the New York
Zoological Society.

Le Matin (Paris)

11. Aug.

ÉCHOS ET PROPOS

L'ECOLE DE LA TENTATION. —
C'est une femme, une jeune fille même,
la frêle, délicate et gracieuse miss Procter qui
est chargée, au jardin zoologique de Londres,
de la section... des serpents.

Et je constate que les serpents et les fem-
mes ont décidément des affinités dont la pru-
dence masculine devrait commencer sérieuse-
ment à prendre ombrage.

Chacun connaît l'entente extrêmement cor-
diale qui existait entre notre mère Eve et l'an-
cêtre des serpents, et chacun sait aussi ce qui
en est résulté.

Seulement, voilà, du temps de notre mère
Eve, il y avait un paradis à perdre.
Tandis que maintenant...
Rosine

Cutting from the Nottingham Express
Address of Publication.
Issue dated

4. 9. 23

HER REPTILIAN FAMILY.

The second of the lady curators appointed by
the Zoological Society, Miss Joan Procter, will
take over her duties in charge of the reptiles at
Regent's Park during the autumn. Miss Procter
has plenty of practical experience of these strange
pets, for, apart from work which she has fulfilled
in the reptile department of the museum at South
Kensington, she has for several years kept a private
collection of live snakes and batrachians. She has
designed the whole of the rockwork for the new
aquarium at the Zoo.

Extract from
THE ENGLISHMAN
CALCUTTA.
Date
10 AUG 1929

WOMAN CURATOR OF
REPTILES

APPOINTMENTS AT THE LONDON
ZOO

Mr. E. G. Boulenger, at present
Curator of Reptiles at the Zoological
Gardens, London, has been appointed
Director of the new Aquarium. He
will continue to exercise a general super-
vision over the reptiles, but for some
time he has been very fully occupied
with superintending the construction of
the aquarium, and when the tanks are
ready for occupation it is anticipated
that his time will be almost completely
engaged by his new duties. Mr. Boulen-
ger is a son of Dr. G. A. Boulenger,
F.R.S., for long chief of the Department
of Reptiles, Batrachians, and Fishes at
the British Museum of Natural History.
Since Mr. Boulenger has been Curator
at the Zoo the reptile-house has been
greatly improved, and the collection
made one of the finest in the world.
During the war he served in France
with the balloons.

Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S.,
has been appointed Curator of Reptiles,
and will assume her duties in late
autumn. She was educated at St. Paul's
School for Girls, and since 1916 has
worked in the Reptile Department at
the British Museum, first as voluntary
assistant to Dr. Boulenger, and, since
his retirement, in charge. She is the
author of a large number of papers on
the anatomy, classification, and habits
of reptiles and batrachians, and for
many years has kept a private collection
of living snakes and batrachians. At
present Miss Procter is still carrying on
the work of the Reptile Department at
the Museum, but is also engaged in de-
signing the rockwork for the aquarium
tanks at the Zoo.

MAKING THE ZOO'S NEW AQUARIUM. Finishing one of the two hundred tanks
which are to form the new aquarium under the Mappin Terraces at the Zoo. Some of
the tanks will hold thirty tons of water. (Daily Mirror photograph.)
OCTOBER 6, 1923

SUMMARY:
Newspaper cuttings report that Miss Joan Proctor/Procter, aged 25, has been appointed Curator of Reptiles at the Zoological Gardens. Articles describe her background at the British Museum/Museum of Natural History, her expertise handling venomous snakes, and her work designing aquarium tanks and contributing to antivenom research.

CONTENT:
who ever lived. Praise she merits, but
Cutting from the Daily Post
July 19th
One Woman's Speciality.

Not to every woman would the curatorship
of reptiles at the Zoological Gardens
appeal, but to have received the position is
an honour decidedly. This honour has
fallen to Miss Joan Proctor, who will take
up her work in the autumn. Educated at
St. Paul's School for Girls, Miss Proctor
has been in the reptile department of the
British Museum for seven years, and may
be said to know her job backwards. Not
content with studying the habits, anatomy,
and little ways of reptiles and batrachians
in working hours, she keeps a collection of
the living creatures at home. She is at the
moment designing rockwork for the
aquarium tanks at the Zoo.

From the Soho News July 21st
CHAMPION GIRL SNAKE EXPERT.

Miss Joan Proctor, F.L.S.
Miss Proctor, aged 25, as already
described in the "Echo," is one of the
greatest snake experts in the world, and has
been appointed Curator of Reptiles at the
Zoological Gardens. She handles the most
deadly reptiles with the greatest ease.

Cutting from the Belfast Telegraph
Address of Publication
Issue dated 20. 7. 21

GREAT SNAKE EXPERT.
GIRL'S CHARGE OF REPTILES.
CAN HANDLE DEADLY SERPENTS.
Miss Joan Proctor, F.Z.S., an English
girl of 25, has been appointed curator of
reptiles at the Zoo. She will have com-
plete charge of dozens of venomous cobras,
deadly pythons, boa constrictors, alligators
and crocodiles. Miss Proctor, unknown to
the world at large, has for several years
gained fame as one of the greatest snake
experts of the day. The large, airy room
in the basement of the Museum of Natural
History, South Kensington, in which she
works, is filled with bottled and occasionally
live specimens of the most deadly snakes in
the world.

Miss Proctor is now engaged in designing
the 60 tanks to form the most wonderful
aquarium in the world, which are being con-
structed at a cost of £50,000, under the
Mappin Terraces in the Zoo. Miss Proctor
is making models of each tank to scale from
her studies of rocks and seaweeds made
during holidays at the seaside. Miss
Proctor has performed work of incalculable
value while at the Museum of Natural
History by preparing a complete series of
the teeth of poisonous snakes for the School
of Tropical Medicine. Her researches have
enabled the school to prepare antidotes for
the bites of various deadly snakes.
Miss Proctor is resigning in the autumn
from her present position as chief of the
department of reptiles at the British
Museum of Natural History at South Kens-
ington. She has already won many honours
that are only as a rule bestowed after a
life-time of research work. She read her
first paper on the pitsnake before the Zoo-
logical Society at the age of 19. She was
made a Fellow of the Society at 20. She
was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society,
one of the foremost scientific organisations
in the world, a fortnight ago. She is also
a Fellow of the Zoological Society of Bom-
bay, and last year was offered a remuner-
ative post by the Zoological Society of New
York.

Cutting from the Dundee Courier
Address of Publication
Issue dated 21. 7. 20

GIRL AS SNAKE EXPERT.
Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., an
Englishwoman of 25, has been appointed
curator of reptiles at the Zoo. She will
have complete charge of dozens of venomous
cobras, deadly pythons, boa constrictors, alli-
gators, and crocodiles. Miss Procter, un-
known to the world at large, is famous
among zoologists as one of the greatest
snake experts of the day. Scientists in
South Africa and South America have sent
Miss Procter rare and deadly reptiles from
jungles and swamps. Occasionally a crate
of them has been overturned on arrival, and
they have been spilled on the floor, Miss
Procter, without the slightest fear, has col-
lected the poisonous creatures from their
hiding places.

SUMMARY:
Newspaper cuttings (1921–1927) report Miss Joan Procter’s appointment and work as Curator of Reptiles at the Zoo, highlighting her background at the Natural History Museum and her early interest in reptiles. Articles also note her education at St. Paul’s School for Girls and collaboration with Dr. G. A. Boulenger, as well as her design work for new aquarium tanks.

CONTENT:
Cutting from the Children's Newspaper
Address of Publication
Issue dated 4.8.21

FRIEND OF THE CRAWLY
THINGS
Miss Procter of the Zoo
Ladies who are afraid of mice, spiders,
beetles, newts, snakes, and such un-
familiar things may shudder at hearing
that Miss Joan Procter has been ap-
pointed curator of the reptiles at the Zoo
in London.
Miss Procter does not shudder at any
kind of animal, for they are her familiars,
especially snakes. She began keeping
snakes as pets when she was ten. When
she was eighteen she became an assistant
in the reptiles' department at South
Kensington.
Now, at 25, she goes to the Zoo to be
the friend of all the crawly and cold-
blooded things, as she is the friend of the
collection she keeps in her home.

Cutting from the Schoolmistress
Address of Publication
Issue dated 2.8.27

CURATOR AT THE ZOO.
Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S., who, on
account of her writings and research work
in zoology, was recently made a Fellow of
the Linnean Society, has been appointed
curator of reptiles at the Zoological
Gardens. For several years Miss Procter
has been a worker in the Reptile Depart-
ment of the Natural History Museum at
South Kensington, and she hopes to keep
on with her research work there, in addition
to taking charge of the reptile houses and
the tortoises at the Zoo. At present she is
engaged on designing the decorative rock-
work for the new aquarium tanks at the
Zoo. She makes models of the tanks on a
scale of two inches to a foot, and the work-
men carry out her designs. The largest of
the tanks will be 30 ft. in length. The
tanks are being made partly of natural
rocks, such as Cornish granite, and partly of
Portland cement.

M Miss Procter No.

From The General Press Cutting
Association, Ltd.
ATLANTIC HOUSE,
45-50, HOLBORN VIADUCT, E.C. 1.
TELEPHONE: HOLBORN 4015.

Cutting from the Suffragette Telegraph
Address of Publication
Issue dated 10.8.23

The newest profession for women is an extra-
ordinary one, in which there will be little
competition. Few women would care to spend
their working hours among reptiles, yet it is a
lady, Miss Joan Procter, who has been appointed
Curator of Reptiles at the Zoo. Miss Procter
was educated at St. Paul's School for Girls, and
has worked in the Reptile Department as assis-
tant of Mr. Boulenger, who now becomes
Curator of the New Aquarium.

M Miss Joan Procter No.

From The General Press Cutting
Association, Ltd.
ATLANTIC HOUSE,
45-50, HOLBORN VIADUCT, E.C. 1.
TELEPHONE: HOLBORN 4015.

Cutting from the Machinery Market
Address of Publication
Issue dated 3.8.23

Woman Curator of Reptiles.
Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., will take
up in November the position of curator of rep-
tiles at the Zoological Gardens. Miss Procter,
who was educated at St. Paul's School for
Girls, worked for some years with Dr. G. A.
Boulenger, who is relinquishing the position.
She has been interested in reptiles and frogs
since her school days and keeps a collection in
her Kensington home.