Troughton, Ellis Le Geyt

Troughton was born in Darlinghurst, and attended Darlinghurst Superior Public School from 1905 to 1907, then to Sydney Technical College from 1909 to 1910. In 1940, he received the title of Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales. He was also a corresponding member of the Zoological Society of London.

Troughton was appointed zoologist at the Australian Museum, Sydney, in 1921; he was first appointed to the Museum in 1908 as a scientific cadet. On retirement in 1958, the Museum trustees appointed him Honorary Zoologist. Honorary appointments included associate member of the Australian National Research Council (from 1928), honorary secretary of the Biological Survey of Australia Committee of ANZAAS (later Flora and Fauna Conservation Committee) from 1937 until its demise in 1959, foundation member of the NSW Government Fauna Protection Panel (1949-63), honorary ranger under the NSW Fauna Protection Act, representative of the Museum, Linnean and Royal Zoological Societies of NSW on the scientific reconnaissance survey of Mt Kosciusko in 1946.

The best known of Troughton's approximately 50 publications, "The Furred Animals of Australia", appeared in 9 editions between 1941 and 1974. In collaboration with the School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, then within Sydney University, Troughton investigated Weil's disease which was prevalent in Queensland canefields. At the mining company's request, he investigated scrub typhus in New Guinea's Bulolo goldfields. During World War II, he investigated typhus in New Guinea with the Australian Military Forces Tropical Scientific Section.

Troughton described his recreational activities as repertory theatre, tennis, and the Sydney Savage Club. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge from 1929, and admitted to the degree of Installed Master in 1942. A frequent visitor to Lord Howe Island, he was active in a campaign to prevent the construction of an airport on the Island.
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Troughton's curriculum vitae states that he attended a school called West Bush. However, the NSW Govt Dept of Education History Unit stated that there was no school by that name.

See also 94/0455 (Troughton Bequest )