Benjamin Anthony Edward Marr
1939 - 2025
Meeting Tony Marr at Dungeness 67 years ago was, for me, a Sliding Doors moment. He took this young London schoolboy under his wing, invited me to stay with him at his house in Southwick and opened my eyes to birdwatching in Sussex, especially Selsey Bill for which he will forever be famed.
Together with Tony Sheldon and Mike Jennings, Tony started the Selsey Bill Bird Observatory in 1959 and it still flourishes thanks to several of his friends.
Selsey was not just a bird observatory it was a place where many young birdwatchers first met - thanks to Tony. This is where plots were hatched, lifelong friendships made and expeditions planned.
It was here that a young Tony Marr had the vision of a county birdwatching society, so in 1962 the Sussex Ornithological Society was launched, with Tony becoming its secretary.
The rest, as they say, is history
At that time I can remember Tony going off on his Lambretta to spend many days surveying Pagham and Rye Harbours. His detailed reports and recommendations lead to them being declared Local Nature Reserves and thus protected for posterity. That maybe Tony’s greatest conservation achievement.
So what was this birdwatching institution, BAEMarr? Institution is not a word to be used lightly, but in Tony’s case it is totally appropriate.
In Sussex he will always be remembered for Selsey Bill, the Sussex Ornithological Society and the Pagham and Rye Nature Reserves.
But what about the rest of his life?
Tony could have gone to university to read modern languages, but decided on a career in the Civil Service because, as he said, the holidays were very good and that meant only one thing to a birdwatching obsessive……
He rose in the ranks of the Land Registry, heading their Northern Ireland Office and starting their staff training programme in London, for which he was particularly proud.
During his career in the Civil Service Tony also found time to serve twice on the Council of the RSPB and on the BOU Records Committee for which he became chairman. This is the committee that approves the admittance of new birds to the British list so its work is very closely scrutinised by the birdwatching community.
Tony spent seven years in Ireland and made such an impression with his meticulous bird observations that when he left the Irish birdwatching community hosted a big dinner for him in Wexford where they presented him with a certificate declaring him an Honorary Irishman.
Tony was a bachelor, but that nearly changed when he became engaged to an Irish lass during his time in Northern Ireland. Sadly the engagement didn’t last as the bride to be didn’t like seawatching.
Taking early retirement from the Civil Service at 56, he started what he often said was his proper career – that of an ornithological tour leader, for which he was acknowledged as one of the best.
Tony’s previous global travels were good for his apprenticeship for tour-leading. You not only had to be good at finding and identifying birds, but also handling the irritating requests of your clients and also knowing a few things about their habits and ailments.
One quick early learning curve I distinctly remember was when he spent a month in India with Robin Jolliffe, Bill Oddie and myself.
We were camping or dossing down wherever we could find a room. On one occasion at Bharatpur we stayed in a run-down hovel where the facilities were sparse to say the least.
We had a morning routine for using the bathroom: Bill first, then Tony followed by Robin and me. After a couple of days Tony started to become very quiet, worried, even agitated. This continued until he finally said, I think I’ve got a tapeworm.
So the next day when Tony went to the bathroom we gathered round to see the evidence. Peering down into the bowl of the toilet Bill gave a loud shreak of laughter – there in the bottom of the pan were the strands of his dental floss……
By this time Tony had moved to Norfolk to a newly renovated barn which he aptly named ‘Two Hoots’. Here he entertained with gusto. His parties became legendary.
And it was from here that his tour leading began, mainly for the highly regarded WildWings. For over ten years it was China in the spring for migration, a cruise ship around Svalbard in the summer and then the winter in the frozen wastes of Antarctica and the south Atlantic.
After tour leading, the restless Tony Marr decided to buy a house on the Butt of Lewes to watch bird migration. He stayed there for ten years and certainly made his mark, ornithologically.
On selling his house and returning to Cley, the Hebridean bird community presented him with a wonderful montage of all the good birds he had found, along with this message:
"Outer Hebrides Birds would like to say a massive thank you to Tony Marr for his great contribution to the counties bird records. It really does feel like the end of an era and Tony will be sorely missed in his far flung outpost up in Ness where he has spent the spring and autumn for the last ten years."
So Tony Marr in a nutshell?
A birdwatcher par excellence, a committed conservationist – incidentally most of his estate is going to wildlife charities, a man of high standards and someone so very proud of his family.
Honesty, integrity and hospitality are traits he inherited from his dear mother, Mrs Marr, who at her house in Southwick hosted many meetings and housed and fed so many birdwatchers who often slept three abreast on floors around the house.
And I haven’t even mentioned Tony’s legendary, trademark story-telling.
What’s that I hear you say? Thank goodness?
It’s August. In a few weeks the first Pinkfeet will be returning from Iceland. First stop the Butt of Lewis. Second stop the North Norfolk coast. Tony won’t be there to greet them, but his spirit will.
Richard Porter
August 2025
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