| Activity | Museum staff: Temporary attendent Dept of Zoology 1946; Principal Scientific Officer; Retired 1982.
Goodwin was in the Army from 1940/1941 to 1946 during World War II and spent time overseas in Egypt, Libya and Malta, some of the time with the Middle East Pigeon Service. Towards the end of the war he joined the Avicultural Society and Miss Phyllis Barclay-Smith, editor of The Avicultural Magazine, introduced him to J.D. Macdonald who was in charge of the Natural History Museum's Bird Room. Derek accepted a post offered by Macdonald as Attendant in the Bird Room in October 1946. In 1950 he was upgraded to Assistant Experimental Officer and, in 1954, to Experimental Officer. He was a member of the 3rd Harold Hall expedition to Australia in 1965. Later he became Principal Scientific Officer and worked mainly on the skin collection and answering enquiries
When the bird collections were moved from South Kensington to Tring in 1971 he was heavily involved in the packing and then unpacking of the bird skins and in re-arranging them. He remained working at Tring until his retirement in February 1982.
Goodwin had a very wide circle of correspondents. Unfortunately, he destroyed copies of his work-related letters before he retired and the only letters he kept were those from Professor Erwin Stresemann.
He joined the British Ornithologists' Union in 1950 and was a member of its Council from 1963 to 1966. He was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1959 and of the Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft in 1977.
References: Avicultural Magazine 108: 180-185 (2002) for personal opinions on introduced species and p.109 for autobiographical notes. Avicultural Magazine 109: 130-132 (2003). Avicultural Magazine 114: 45-47 (2008). Ibis 1972: 426 & pl.24 for BOU Union Medal citation and portrait. Entry in Who's Who in Ornithology (1997). Obituaries in Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 128:148-149, 2008; The Times 24 May 2008. British Birds 101: 501-502, 2008; Bulletin of the African Bird Club XXXX.
See also envelope at MSS. GOODWIN |