Sidney William Jackson

Sidney William Jackson (12 June 1873 – 30 September 1946) was an Australian naturalist and field ornithologist with a special interest in oology, who was also a skilled photographer and taxidermist.

Jackson, along with his brother Frank, developed innovative techniques for tree climbing, employing leg-spikes and rope-ladders to aid in egg collection.

[4] He also authored a book, Egg Collecting and Bird Life of Australia, a combined autobiographical work and oological catalogue, illustrated with his own photographs, which was published in 1907.

In some respects he was entirely humourless, and yet he could be highly entertaining when giving performances of ventriloquism and mimicry, added to which he had a child-like fondness for those trivial gadgets (such as a piece of tin shaped and painted to resemble spilt ink) that alarm or embarrass unwary people.

Like various other bush-wanderers before his time, he ‘talked’ to his diaries, and, even though we may smile at certain comments, it has to be conceded that such highly personal touches make the entries more ‘human’ than matter-of-fact narratives.”[7]Eucalyptus jacksonii was named in honour of Jackson.