William Vincent Legge

Colonel William Vincent Legge (2 September 1841 – 25 March 1918) was an Australian soldier and an ornithologist who documented the birds of Sri Lanka.

His father, Robert Vincent Legge had moved from Ireland to Van Diemen's Land in 1827 along with his sisters and was married to Eliza Graves (née de Lapenotierre).

With a recommendation from Sir Peter Scratchley he served for eleven years as Commandant of the Tasmanian Defence Forces, retiring as Lieutenant-Colonel from the Imperial service in 1883.

[1] Legge had early shown great interest in the defences of the River Derwent, and for this and a recommendation by he was offered the command of the forces in Tasmania.

Vernon at Portsmouth, and with advice from Scratchley and General Hardinge Steward ordered the new breech-loading guns for the colony from the Elswick Works at Newcastle upon Tyne.

He trained Tasmanian contingents for the Boer war and was in charge of the reception of the Duke of Cornwall in 1900, and held his post until the forces were officially taken over by the Commonwealth in 1904.

[3][4] He served on the biological consultation committee of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, acting as vice-president in 1902 and president in 1904 at the conference in Dunedin.