George Willett

George H. Willett (May 28, 1879 – August 2, 1945) was a Canada-born ornithologist and malacologist who worked with the Los Angeles Police Department and later with the County Museum and was involved in surveys of the birds of the California Channel Islands from 1904 to 1941.

Willett was born in Hawkesbury, Prescott County, Ontario, Canada to English immigrant and clergyman George and his schoolteacher wife Hannah Theodosia Hill.

Willett grew up in Cowanswille, Quebec and in 1888 the family moved to Redlands, California where his father became a minister of the congregational church.

He explored the region along with Nathan and Robert Moran and they collected the eggs of peregrine falcon, black oystercatcher and of the white-throated swift.

He rose from patrolman to sergeant and was well known in Chinatown where he was made an honorary member of the Hop Sing Tong.

He also began to visit the California islands, often with his friend Clarence Linton whose father owned a fishing boat.

When World War I broke out he joined armed service and went to training at Waco, Texas and returned in 1919 to become a Game Warden for Los Angeles and vicinity.

In 1944 the museum was involved in natural history classes for high school students and Willett became a very popular teacher.