STAPLEDON
,
Sir
REGINALD GEORGE
(
1882
-
1960
),
agricultural scientist
;
b.
22 May 1882
in
Northam
,
Devon
, youngest son of
William
and
Mary
Stapledon
. He was educated at the
United Services College
,
Westward Ho
, and
Emmanuel College
,
Cambridge
, receiving his
M.A.
in botany in
1904
. After
working in the family's commercial office
in
Cairo
for about two years he spent a year as a
student on a large fruit farm
in
Kent
. In
1908
he returned to
Cambridge
to follow a
diploma course in agriculture
, and this was the turning-point which led to his life's work into the
study of grassland
. From
1909-12
he was
Prof. of Agricultural Botany
in the
Royal Agricultural College
,
Cirencester
, and in this period his
exceptional interest in grassland ecology
became evident, particularly in relation to the impact of the dry summer of
1911
on the natural pastures of the
Cotswolds
. In
1912
he was appointed
advisor in agricultural botany
to the counties in the
Aberystwyth
college area (under the
Agriculture and Fisheries Board
), and this was the start of his long association with agriculture in
Wales
. One of his tasks during his first two years in that office was to undertake a
review of the grassland of north Cardiganshire
as a part of the comprehensive review of agriculture, geology and botany by
C. Bryner
Jones
(see above)
,
O.T.
Jones
(see above)
and
R.A.
Yapp
respectively. From
1916-18
he was
director
of the
Official Seed Testing Station
established during that period in
London
. Then, in
1919
, he was appointed as the first
director
of the
Welsh Plant Breeding Station
and
head of the Agricultural Botany department
established in that period in
University College of Wales
,
Aberystwyth
. It was in the
Plant Breeding Station
between
1919 and 1942
, in association with committed colleagues of his own choosing, that
Stapledon
accomplished his life's major work — work which enormously influenced the art, science and indeed the principles of grassland management throughout the world. The
Agricultural Bureaux of the Empire
(later the Commonwealth) were established in this period with
Stapledon
as
director
of the one for
Grassland and Field Crops
founded in
Aberystwyth
in
1927
. In addition he was also the
director
of the
Cahn Hill Improvement Scheme
set up in
1933
to convert the results of minor experiments to improve the uplands of the hill-country of
Cardiganshire
into a large-scale practical project located on part of the
Hafod Uchtryd estate
in
Cwm Ystwyth
. In
1942
he left
Aberystwyth
to concentrate on his new post as
director
of the
Grassland Improvement Station
established in
Stratford-upon-Avon
in
1940
. On retirement from this office in
1945
he was
consultant
and one of the
directors
of
Dunn's Farm Seeds
at
Salisbury
until overtaken by frailty and
profound deafness
in his later years. Without doubt, in his time
Stapledon
was the most eminent
agricultural scientist
in the world as well as the
foremost authority on grassland
. Under his inspired leadership, the
Welsh Plant Breeding Station
at
Aberystwyth
became the most prestigious research establishment in
Britain
and abroad for grassland and plant breeding studies. He was honoured with a
C.B.E.
in
1932
; in
1939
he was
knighted
and also became a
Fellow of the Royal Society
; he received an honorary
D.Sc.
from the
Universities of Wales
and
Nottingham
. He was awarded the
gold medal
of the
Royal Agricultural Society for England
, and was the
president
of the
Fourth International Grassland Conference
held in
Aberystwyth
in
1937
. He
published numerous scientific and agricultural articles
and
edited volumes on grassland and land improvement
. His publications include:
Grassland, its improvement and management
(with
J.A.
Hanley
,
1927
);
A tour in Australia and New Zealand: Grassland and other studies
(
1928
);
The hill lands of Britain: development or decay?
(
1937
);
The plough-up: policy and ley farming
(
1941
);
Make fruitful the land: a policy for agriculture
(
1941
);
The way of the land
(
1943
);
Disraeli and the new age
(
1943
). But, without doubt, his masterpiece was his book
The land now and tomorrow
(
1935
).
He m.
Doris
Wood Bourne
in
1913
, but they had no children. He d. in
Bath
16 Sept. 1960
, and a memorial service was held in the
Plant Breeding Station
near
Aberystwyth
. The
Stapledon Memorial Trust
was established to enable young
agricultural scientists
from both
England
and
Wales
to undertake research in another Commonwealth country.
Bibliography:
- Personal knowledge;
-
Who's who?
;
-
Journal of the British Grassland
Society
,
15 April 1960
;
-
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal
Society
,
7, 1961
;
-
Robert Waller
,
Prophet of the New Age. The life and thought
of Sir George Stapledon, F.R.S.
, London, 1962
(1962)
.
Author:
Llywelyn Phillips (1914-81), Aberystwyth
