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Theodore Thomson Flynn
(1883–1968)

Biographical

Member of the Order of the British Empire 1945
Fellow of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1909

A renowned zoologist, Flynn was educated in Sydney, earning a Bachelor of Science in 1907. He began his career in New South Wales, teaching science before lecturing in chemistry and physics. His passion lay in the natural sciences, leading to a biology lectureship at the University of Tasmania in 1909. He later became the first Ralston Professor of Biology in Hobart, focusing on marsupial and megapode research. Flynn participated in the 1912 Australian Antarctic Expedition and later conducted fishery research, serving as a royal commissioner for Tasmanian fisheries in 1915. From 1913 to 1919, he was a trustee of the Tasmanian Museum and Botanical Gardens. In 1921, he earned a Doctor of Science from the University of Sydney for his work on marsupial embryology. In 1930, Flynn moved to London to further his research and seek funding for scientific exploration in Tasmania before securing a Rockefeller Foundation grant to study monotreme ovum development. That same year, he accepted the chair of zoology at Queen’s University, Belfast, where he also became director of the Portaferry Marine Station. Beyond academia, he was active in community affairs, particularly debating, theatre, and adult education. After retiring in 1948, Flynn settled in Surrey, England, where he died.

Place of birth: Coraki, New South Wales
Place of marriage: St John's Church of England, Balmain North, Sydney
Place of death: Liss, Hampshire

Son of John Thompson Flynn and his wife Jessie Thomson, he married Lily Mary 'Marelle' Young [k. 1968 hit by a car], in 1909, and had issue (including Errol Flynn).

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