J. C. (John Coulson) Tregarthen

John Coulson Tregarthen (1854–1933) was a Cornish field naturalist and author, born in Penzance and educated there before taking mathematical honors at the University of London in 1878. He taught at Trinity College School in Stratford-upon-Avon, later buying the school and serving as headmaster before retiring back to Cornwall in his forties.

Back in Cornwall, he focused on the wildlife he knew so well and began publishing the books that made his name. His best-known works include Wild Life at the Land’s End (1904), The Life Story of a Fox (1906), The Life Story of an Otter (1909), The Story of a Hare (1912), and The Life Story of a Badger (1925). His writing is rooted in natural history, but it also carries the warmth and pacing of a born storyteller.

Tregarthen was a Fellow of the Zoological Society and later served as President of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. He was also made a bard of Gorseth Kernow in 1928, with a name meaning “Lover of Wild Animals,” which suits both his life and his books remarkably well.