Birth of the Gould League

The Gould League of Bird Lovers was formed in 1909 with Prime Minister Alfred Deakin as its first President upon a suggestion, and generous donations, from school teacher Jessie McMichael. The Chairman of Australian Natives Association (now Australian Unity) was a close personal friend of Deakin and provided financial support to help grow the organisation. Gould League spread with NSW in 1910, Tasmania in 1920 and Western Australia in 1939.

Named to honour the work of John and Elizabeth Gould, the Gould League was established to address two distinct national concerns:

• the moral improvement of citizens
• the nation's economic environmental future.

The Patrons of the Organisation at foundation included:

• Hon. John Murray, Premier of Victoria
• Hon. A.A. Bilson, Minister of Public Instruction
• Mr. F. Tate, Director of Education

The Gould League's main activities during its formative years was in community education about the impact on nature of collecting eggs and using birds as a primary food source.

Children were the main egg-collecting culprits so, with the help of the Education Department, the Gould League established education programs in schools.

"[Schools are] an efficient way of reaching into nearly every home."
Frank Tate, Victorian Director of Education in early 1900s.

The organisation conducted its first community engagement program, National Bird Day, on October 29, 1909 to encourage children and their families to change their behaviours towards native birds. It was then introduced into schools as an educational bird club.

Gould League continued to expand its bird programs into other nature areas over the years, including sustainability areas of water, biodiversity, energy and waste, over the past several decades.

See a timeline of Gould League's history...