Richard Sidney Richmond Fitter (1 March 1913 – 3 September 2005) was a British naturalist and author. He was an expert on wildflowers and authored several guides for amateur naturalists.

Life

Fitter was born in London, England, on 1 March 1913 and was educated at Eastbourne College and the London School of Economics. He was the only son of Sidney and Dorothy Fitter.

In 1938 he married Alice Mary (Maisie) Stewart (died 1996) and they had two sons and a daughter.

In 1946, Fitter became assistant editor of The Countryman In later life he moved to Great Shelford, Cambridge.

He died in Cambridge on 3 September 2005, survived by his children.

Honours

  • Order of the Golden Ark in the Netherlands (1978)

Hobbies

Fitter collected 'bird inn signs.' He wrote about his hobby in the Birmingham Daily Post, published Tuesday 22 March 1955. Fitter wrote that "I just note them down in my diary whenever I see them. I started during the second winter of the war, as a kind of light relief from the somewhat grim preoccupations of those days." By 1955 Fitter had several hundred signs in his collection of some 38 different bird species.

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000619/19550322/326/0015

Bibliography

  • London's Natural History 1945 New Naturalist no 3.
  • London's Birds (Collins) 1949
  • Home Counties (About Britain Series; No.3) 1951
  • Contributions to the Bibliography of the Natural History of the London Area: No.2: a Subject Index of the Society's Journals, 1941–51 1952
  • The Pocket Guide to British Birds (illustrated by Richard Richardson) 1952
  • Birds of Town and Village (Collins Naturalist Series) 1953
  • The Natural History of the City 1953
  • The Pocket Guide to Nests and Eggs 1955
  • Fontana Bird Guide (Fontana series) 1956
  • Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers (with David McClintock) 1956
  • Fontana Wild Flower Guide 1957
  • Your Book of Bird Watching 1958
  • The Ark in Our Midst: The Story of the Introduced Animals af Britain; Birds, Beasts, Reptiles, Amphibians, Fishes 1959
  • The 'Countryman' nature book: An anthology from 'The Countryman 1960
  • Your Book About Wild Flowers 1960
  • Collins Guide to Bird Watching (illustrated by Richard Richardson) 1963
  • Fitters Rural Rides: 'The Observer' Illustrated Map-Guide to the Countryside 1963
  • Wildlife in Britain (Pelican books) 1963
  • Wildlife – and Death (Take Home Books) 1964
  • Britain's wildlife: Rarities and Introductions 1966 (illustrated by John Leigh-Pemberton)
  • Pocket Guide to British Birds (with Richard Richardson) 1966
  • The Penguin Dictionary of British Natural History (with Maisie Fitter) 1967
  • Pocket Guide to Nests and Eggs 1968
  • Vanishing Wild Animals of the World 1968
  • Guide to Bird Watching 1970
  • Contributed section on Mammals to "The Shell Natural History of Britain" 1970
  • Finding Wild Flowers 1971
  • Birds of Britain and Europe with North Africa and the Middle East (with illustrations by Hermann Heinzel and maps by John Parslow) 1972
  • The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast (with William Plomer, illustrations by Alan Aldridge) 1973
  • Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe (Collins Pocket Guide) (with Alastair Fitter, Marjorie Blamey)1974
  • Penitent Butchers: The Fauna Preservation Society 1903–1978 (with Sir Peter Scott) 1978
  • Collins Gem Wild Flowers (with Marjorie Blamey) 1980
  • The Complete Guide to British Wildlife (with Alastair Fitter, illustrated by Norman Arlott)
  • Grasses, Sedges, Rushes & Ferns of Britain and Northern Europe (Collins Pocket Guide) (with Alastair Fitter, Ann Farrer) 1984
  • Collins Guide to the Countryside (with Alastair Fitter) 1984
  • Contributed the article on 'Naturalized Birds' to A Dictionary of Birds (edited by Bruce Campbell & Elizabeth Lack 1985
  • Wild Life of the Thames Counties (Ed) 1985
  • A Field Guide to Freshwater Life in Britain and North-west Europe (Collins Field Guide) (with Richard Manuel) 1986
  • Wild Life for Man (with Norman Arlott) 1986
  • Collins Guide to the Countryside in Winter (Collins Handguide) (with Alastair Fitter) 1988
  • Wild Flowers (Collins Gem Series) (with Martin Walters) 1999
  • The Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland: The Complete Guide to the British and Irish Flora (with Alastair Fitter, Marjorie Blamey) 2003

As editor

Journals

  • "Rapid Changes in Flowering Time in British Plants" (with A. H. Fitter) Science Vol. 296, Issue 5573, 1689–1691, 2002

References