Part 19 - Press cuttings on Miss Joan Procter’s appointment as Curator of Reptiles

SUMMARY:
Newspaper clippings (1921–1927) report Miss Joan Procter (also styled Miss Joan B. Procter/Miss Joan Proctor) being appointed Curator of Reptiles at the Zoo/Zoological Gardens, London, noting her reputation as a leading snake expert. One notice states Mr. E. G. Boulenger will direct the new aquarium, with references to institutions in South Kensington and Bombay.

CONTENT:
Cutting from the Leeds Mercury
Address of Publication
Issue dated 21.4.23

THE ZOO GIRL SNAKE EXPERT.

Miss Joan Procter, who has been
appointed curator of the reptile
section at the Zoo. Though she is
only twenty-five, she is acknow-
ledged to be one of the greatest
snake experts in the world.

Cutting from the Bristol Evening News
Address of Publication
Issue dated 20.7.21.

THE GIRL-SNAKE EXPERT.

Our London correspondent telegraphs:
The sphere of women's activity widens
daily, and this morning we have news of a
girl snake expert being appointed to take
charge of reptiles.
It sounds a job for which there will be
little feminine competition. Miss Joan
Proctor's childhood care of snakes as pets
has brought reward in her present appoint-
ment.

Cutting from the Evening Dispatch
Address of Publication / Edinburgh
Issue dated 27.7.27

Girl Snake Expert at the Zoo.
Miss Joan Proctor, F.Z.S., F.L.S., has been
appointed Curator of Reptiles at the Zoological
Gardens, London. Miss Proctor, who is 25 years
of age, is an acknowledged expert on snakes.

Eve and the Serpents.
AT the Zoo in London a girl has been
appointed curator of reptiles. This
unusual course has been adopted because
the lady, Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S.,
is one of the leading authorities on these
rather terrifying creatures. Ever since
she was a tiny child Miss Procter has
been fond of reptiles, and her list of pets were
of a nature to terrify the average person. She
read every book that dealt with snakes and
lizards, so that when she came in contact with
men who made a life study of reptiles they were
amazed at her knowledge. She adopted her
present career on leaving school. Miss Joan
Procter's fame has penetrated over the world.
The Zoological Society of Bombay made her a
Fellow, and American experts held her in high
regard. She is also one of the experts at the
Museum of Natural History at South Kensing-
ton, and loves and fondles dangerous serpents
as an average woman would pet kittens and
puppies.

Cutting from the Christian World
Address of Publication
Issue dated 26.7.27

Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., has
been appointed Curator of Reptiles at the
Zoo in place of Mr. E. G. Boulenger, who
is to take up duties as director of the new
aquarium. Miss Procter has for several
years been a worker in the Reptile Depart-
ment at the British Museum.