Article

Criddle Family

Published Online February 6, 2006

Last Edited October 28, 2014

The Criddle family were naturalists known for detailed and long-term records of fauna and flora at Aweme (near Treesbank), Manitoba, starting with Percy's diaries kept since their arrival from England in 1882.

Criddle Family

The Criddle family were naturalists known for detailed and long-term records of fauna and flora at Aweme (near Treesbank), Manitoba, starting with Percy's diaries kept since their arrival from England in 1882. Of the 8 children, Norman (b at Addlestone, Eng 14 May 1875; d at Brandon, Man 4 May 1933) and Stuart (b at Addlestone, Eng 4 Dec 1877; d at Surrey, BC 23 Oct 1971) were best known, publishing about 150 papers.

Norman became the dean of western Canadian ENTOMOLOGY, recognized for his development of the "Criddle mixture" for grasshopper control and for his early application of biological observations to insect control. The Criddle family's studies included long-term weather records, for which Maida received a government award, one of the first breeding-bird censuses and one of the longest migration chronologies in North America, and a detailed floral calendar. Norman attempted to forecast the grasshopper plagues based on sunspot cycles, and with Stuart he was active in many organizations and influenced the work of colleagues. Some of Norman's paintings were published in government books on Canadian plants.