Macmillan, Lindsay

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

THOMAS LINDSAY MACMILLAN was born in 1906 on Tanna, an island in Vanuatu (New Hebrides) to an Australian father who was a doctor and missionary on the island. He spent most of his life in this island group and Australia, working as a farmer, managing a mission, and for five years as leader of the American Museum of Natural History Whitney South Sea Expedition. For the Whitney South Sea Expedition, he explored and collected in New Caledonia and the New Hebrides island groups.

WSSE was an ornithological expedition originated by Dr. Leonard C. Sanford and funded by Harry Payne Whitney, with the mission of systematically exploring Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia for previously undiscovered or little-known bird specimens (1). It was the largest ornithological expedition ever conceived. Active field research was conducted from 1920 to 1941.

Macmillan was brought on as leader of the Whitney South Sea Expedition in 1935 after there was a short hiatus in collecting. He would remain at his post for five years; his wife Joy joined him in New Caledonia and acted as assistant, collecting, skinning and preparing specimens. Macmillan had studied and worked in farming and spent most of his life between Australia and his native islands of the New Hebrides. (2) He became acquainted with and interested in bird skinning and collection from A. J. Marshall who would go on to become a well-known Australian ornithologist (2), and Tom Harrison, who would recommend Macmillan to the American Museum of Natural History (3). The Macmillans surveyed the groups of New Caledonia and the New Hebrides, as well as areas of Papua New Guinea and Queensland, Australia. They were assisted and guided from New York through frequent correspondence with Ernst Mayr at the Museum. In 1940 Macmillan left the expedition ito enter the Australian navy as a coast watcher and would later serve with Admiral Halsey (4). After World War II, the Macmillan family settled to Australia where they farmed for several years until 1951 when Macmillan was appointed to the technical staff managing the Presbyterian mission in West Kimberley, Australia. They remained in that post for a number of years (4). His health was tenuous due to having contracted tuberculosis during World War II and Macmillan died around 1973. He and Joy had two sons and two daughters (5). Dates of existence: 1900? - 1973?

Sources

(1) LeCroy, Mary, “A Wing for the Birds,” Natural History 98, no. 9 (1989): 90-91.

(2) Macmillan, Joy, "A Man's Reach: Thomas Lindsay Macmillan," [unpublished MS], (1984).

(3) "Letter from Ernst Mayr to Tom Harrison, March 30, 1935." Joy Macmillan Correspondence file. AMNH Department of Ornithology Archives.

(4) “Letter from Joy Macmillan to Mary LeCroy, February 3, 1985.” Joy Macmillan Correspondence file. AMNH Department of Ornithology Archives.

(5) "Letter from Joy Macmillan to Mary LeCroy, December 6, 1997." Joy Macmillan Correspondence file. AMNH Department of Ornithology Archives.

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

employerOf

American Museum of Natural History.
The Whitney South Sea Expedition was organized and benefitted the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

American Museum of Natural History. Department of Ornithology.
associated dates: 1935-1940
The Whitney South Sea Expedition collected material which would largely end up in the Department of Ornithology, and the primary managers or liaisons at the Museum for the course of the Expedition were members of that Department.

Harrison, Tom
Ornithologist and scientist who met Macmillan and recommended him to AMNH for the Expedition.

childOf

Macmillan, David Lindsay
Macmillan's son.

spouseOf

Macmillan, Joy
Joy Macmillan was Macmillan's wife, who accompanied him on the Expedition and acted as field assistant, collecting and skinning many of the specimens.

childOf

Macmillan, Keith (Jock) Lindsay
Macmillan's son.

childOf

Macmillan, Kristy
Macmillan's daughter.

childOf

Macmillan, Phyl
Macmillan's daughter.

Marshall, A. J. (Alan John) (Jock)
Australian ornithologist and scholar, befriended Macmillan and may have introduced him to bird collecting.

Mayr, Ernst, 1904-2005
Mayr was curator in the Ornithology department at AMNH while Macmillan served as leader of the Whitney South Sea Expedition. Not only did Mayr catalog and research the maaterial collected during the expedition, he was also vitally integral in assisting the direction of the expedition and communicated greatly with Macmillan.

Murphy, Robert Cushman, 1887-1973
Murphy was curator at the AMNH Department of Ornithology and acted as stateside general manager for the Whitney South Sea Expedition

participantIn

Whitney South Sea Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History (1920-1941)
associated dates: 1935-1940
Macmillan acted as the fourth leader of the Whitney South Sea Expedition, where he continued the work to systematically collect bird specimens from the islands in Oceania.

Related Resources

creatorOf

Tanna Islands: Southern New Hebrides
associated dates: 1936-1940
Repository: AMNH Ornithology Department Archives, Call number Orn.60. This collection includes several of Macmillan's field journals.

subjectOf

Joy Macmillan Historic Correspondence file.
associated dates: 1976-2003
Creator: American Museum of Natural History. Extent: 1 folder. Repository: AMNH Ornithology Department Archives

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