Joyce Allan was an Australian conchologist, museum curator at the Australian Museum and a scientific illustrator.
18 Facts About Joyce Allan
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Joyce Allan was the eighth child of Florence Fountain Allan nee Hesketh and Joseph Stuart Allan.
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Joyce Allan was appointed as a temporary employee at the Australia Museum in February 1917 and worked as an assistant to Charles Hedley.
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Joyce Allan was initially responsible for assisting with the curation of the conchology collection as well as providing illustrations for scientific papers written by other museum staff.
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Joyce Allan was a talented artist and exhibited artwork with the Royal Art Society of New South Wales.
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Joyce Allan signed both her artwork and her scientific papers "Joyce K Allan".
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In 1920 Joyce Allan obtained a permanent position at the museum, and upon the resignation of Hedley in 1924, was responsible for the Australia Museums's conchology section with Tom Iredale as her assistant.
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Joyce Allan frequently appeared as the subject of articles in newspaper and magazines, not only as a result of being a woman scientist, but because of her talent at science communication.
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In 1931 Joyce Allan was appointed to the position of scientific assistant.
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In 1943 Joyce Allan was elected a fellow of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, and in doing so became the first woman to achieve this honour.
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In early 1949 Joyce Allan was appointed curator of shells for the Museum and while holding that position attended gatherings of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science.
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In 1950 Joyce Allan authored Australian Shells, the first book to attempt to describe the majority of Australian molluscs.
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Joyce Allan retired from her position at the Museum of Australia in June 1956 as a result of suffering from ill health.
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On 18 May 1949 Joyce Allan married Hector Walker Kirkpatrick in St Clement's Anglican Church, Mosman.
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Joyce Allan's father Joseph Stuart Allan was a well-known artist in New Zealand and the UK, and contributed cartoons to the Australian magazine, The Bulletin, among many other publications.
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Joyce Allan's grandfather was a noted artist and member of the Edinburgh Academy whilst working as a judge in Wellington.
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Joyce Allan died on 31 August 1966 aged 70 at Mosman, of cerebrovascular disease.
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Joyce Allan was survived by her husband and was cremated.