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:
Two press clippings profile Miss Joan Procter, newly appointed Curator of Reptiles at the Zoological Gardens, highlighting her fearless fascination with snakes and her expertise despite her youth. They note her studies and work with Dr. Boulenger at the Natural History Museum and mention reptiles kept at her West Kensington flat.

CONTENT:
Cutting from the Leeds Mercury
Address of Publication
Issue dated. 24-4-23

WOMEN AND SNAKES.
A Zoo Curator Who Loves
Reptiles.

From a Scientific Correspondent.
The attitude of men, and still
more of women, to snakes is strangely
illogical. To most people they are
extremely repulsive objects. Even those
which are harmless inspire a loath-
ing, which seems unaccountable in
view of the beauty of their markings
and colour. This feeling of disgust is
not fear, though no doubt fear enters
into it. That much more dangerous
animal, a tiger, excites our highest
admiration.

On the other hand there are a
few people for whom these reptiles have
a singular fascination; they handle
them entirely without fear and keep
some of the most deadly varieties as
pets. To this category belongs Miss
Joan Proctor, who at the early age of
25 has been appointed curator of
reptiles at the Zoo. She seems to be
entirely devoid of fear where snakes
are concerned, and her remarkable gift
was noticeable even in her early child-
hood.

She is one of those happy indi-
viduals whose natural bent is so
pronounced that they are never in
doubt as to the proper sphere of their
life's work. Her natural qualities
have been improved by earnest study
and she is now one of the greatest
experts on reptiles in the world.

How is it possible to account for
such strange differences in the feelings
aroused by these creatures? They are,
we believe, without a parallel. Both
the loathing and the fascination
appear to be instinctive and not due
to training or experience. Both alike
are entirely unreasonable.

For the loathing it may be possible
to account by assuming that our remote
ancestors lived for hundreds of genera-
tions in regions swarming with deadly
reptiles. Under such circumstances
the only children who would survive
would be those who felt a mortal and
unreasoning terror of these creatures,
prompting them to shrink away at
their every appearance. Though the
conditions have long since passed away
the unreasoning loathing persists in
every generation.

The fascination presents a more
obscure problem. There is reason to
believe that it is strongly hereditary,
and it may be possible that while the
majority found safety in excessive fear,
here and there individuals established
a somewhat mysterious affinity for
these creatures which protected them
from attack, and which likewise has
persisted through generations.

From The General Press Cutting
Association, Ltd.
ATLANTIC HOUSE,
45-50, HOLBORN VIADUCT, E.C. 1.
TELEPHONE: HOLBORN 4815.

Cutting from the Daily Graphic
Address of Publication
Issue dated. 24.4.25.

SNAKE CHARMER
OF THE ZOO.
Woman Takes Charge of
the Creepy Things.
YOUTH AND PLUCK.
Not Afraid of the Boa
Constrictor.

By A WOMAN REPORTER.
LOOKING after snakes and other
creepy things hardly sounds a
woman's job, but young Miss Joan
Procter is taking it on.

Miss Procter—who is entitled to write
F.Z.S., and F.L.S. after her name—has just
been appointed Curator of Reptiles at the
Zoological Gardens.

After a vain search at the Zoo and at the
Natural History Museum yesterday, I was at
last able to track her
to the West Kensing-
ton flat she shares with
her mother.

“I hope to be back
at work soon,” she told
me, “but at present, as
you see, I have to stop
in bed and am on sick
leave.”

The thing that strikes
one most about Miss
Procter is her extreme
youth. Propped up
among the pillows, she
looked so small and
frail that you would
imagine she had not
Miss Joan Procter,
the courage to face a mouse, let alone a python.
Her pale, elfish face has a look of determination
about it, however, and there is a glint in her
eye that would quell the spirit of the most un-
ruly boa constrictor.

Snakes Instead of China.
Round Miss Procter's bedroom hang snake
skins of every kind. On the table was a half-
made snake skin bag, on the floor lay snake skin
shoes.

Ever since she was a child, not so very long
ago either, Miss Procter has been interested in
reptiles. As soon as she left St. Paul's School
for Girls at Hammersmith she became voluntary
assistant to Dr. Boulenger at the Natural History
Museum.

Her love of keeping reptiles as pets, acquired
as a school girl, has not left her yet, and anyone
who strays unawares into her drawing-room is
apt to get a shock.

You look into one of those low glass-fronted
cabinets, in which one expects to find Crown
Derby or Chinese ivories, and you recoil before
a couple of water snakes from Brazil, or a small,
harmless native of Tanganyika. They are being
kept only temporarily at the flat.

SUMMARY:
Pathé Frères Cinema Ltd. requests permission to film Joan B. Procter at home with her pet snakes for the weekly 'EVE & EVERYBODY'S FILM REVIEW'. They propose arranging the shoot on any convenient day, including weekends, weather permitting.

CONTENT:
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REGISTERED OFFICE: 21 BUCKS ROW, E.C.4

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and not to individuals.

IN REPLY PLEASE QUOTE
FW/RS
PICTORIAL
DEPT.

4th Sept. 1923.

Miss Joan B. PROCTER, F.Z.S., F.L.S.
The Royal Zoological Society
Zoological Gardens.
Regents Park.
N.W.

Dear Madam,

We are very anxious to procure, with your
permission, a series of Cinematograph pictures of
yourself at home with your pet snakes.

These pictures would be published in
our well-known weekly Interest film "EVE & EVERYBODY'S
FILM REVIEW", which deals entirely with Women's
Activities.

Any day that is convenient to you would
suit us - weather permitting of course - and if
you are engaged during the week, Saturday or Sunday
would be quite convenient for us to take this film.

Thanking you in anticipation of your kind
permission.

Yours faithfully,
Patrice
PATHÉ FRÈRES CINEMA, Ltd.

No order for goods or advertisements will be recognised as binding this Company, unless it is given upon a printed and numbered order form
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No contracts for a greater amount than £100 (one hundred pounds sterling) will be recognized as binding this Company unless passed and sealed
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Form 31. 10.22

SUMMARY:
An excerpt notes Miss Procter’s plans for arranging submarine scenes, followed by 'A City-Builder' describing honours awarded to Sir Charles Wilson of Leeds, with mentions of ceremonies and gifts associated with the city and university. Figures referenced include Eva Bland, E. F. L. Wood, Lord Halifax, Professor Gilbert Murray, and Sir Michael Sadler, with locations such as the Town Hall of Leeds, Westminster, and Temple Newsam.

CONTENT:
THE
WORLD'S
WORK
SEPTEMBER 1923
326 MEN AND WOMEN

and without their original occupants. In the
arrangement of these submarine scenes Miss
Procter will find ample scope for combining
artistic feminine taste with scientific knowledge.

Eva Bland.

A CITY-BUILDER

Many honours of high distinction have
recently been awarded to Sir Charles Wilson,
J.P., F.S.A.A., the new Member of Parliament
for Leeds. First, the city to whose welfare
and well-being he has given so many selfless
years made him a Freeman by unanimous
vote of the Council and acclaim of the people,
then the University conferred upon him the
Degree of LL.D., probably the first accountant
to be admitted into this select academic
fellowship. Next, he was granted a Knighthood
in the King's Birthday List, and now
he has been returned to Westminster. The
scene in the Town Hall of Leeds when the
freedom of the city and the University degree
were conferred, impressed me by its beauty
and dignity. I think it is Professor Gilbert
Murray who, translating one of his beloved
Greek authors, gives us the line "The apple
tree, the singing and the gold." The words
perfectly portray a festival of rich delight, of
proud gladness in the heart and colour in the
setting. Truly it was a scene memorable for
its manifold solemnity and significance. It
was the City giving honour to one who has
helped to make it honourable.

Major the Right Hon. E. F. L. Wood,
M.A., M.P., President of the Board of Education,
was associated with the then Alderman
Wilson (a Major, too, if I were to use his
military title) in receiving the highest honours
which it is in the power of City and University
to give. Major Wood, the son of the venerable
Lord Halifax, who was proudly present
at the Ceremony of Conferment, recently
transferred his beautiful home and estate,
Temple Newsam, the Templestowe of Ivanhoe,
to the City of Leeds on generously sacrificial
terms, and as a gift he made over a treasure-
trove of furniture and art. It was Alderman
Wilson who carried the delicately intricate
negotiations to successful issue. Nothing
could have been more appropriate than the
comradeship of these two men in honour on
so eventful and so noble a day.

Through the eloquent lips of Sir Michael
Sadler, the Vice-Chancellor, the University
paid homage to Alderman Wilson's "disinterested
public service." In a choice perora-

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.