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William Fleming Bewley

William Fleming Bewley CBE (1891 – 11 December 1976, Newcastle upon Tyne)[1] was a British mycologist, plant pathologist, and horticulturalist.

Upon graduating from Armstrong College, Durham University, Bewley was appointed in 1914[2] as assistant bacteriologist to H. B. Hutchinson at Rothamsted Experimental Station.[3] After serving in the Royal Field Artillery during WW I, Bewley returned to Rothamsted in 1919. A few months after his return, he was appointed mycologist at the Experimental and Research Station, Cheshunt (famous for the fungicide "Cheshunt Compound"). He was the station's director from 1921 until its closure in 1955.[2] As the station's director, he was outstanding in promoting co-operation between glasshouse growers and scientific workers.[4]

When the Glasshouse Crops Research Institute (GCRI) was established in 1954,[5] Bewley became the institute's first director and was responsible for the initial development of the CGRI's Littlehampton site.[3] The GCRI was the successor to the Experimental and Research Station, Chestnut (in operation from 1914 to 1955) and also took over the work of the Mushroom Growers’ Association Research Station (which was in operation from 1946 to 1954 at Yaxley). Bewley directed the assimilation of 14 scientific staff who were re-located from the two predecessor organisations and the addition of 42 support staff who were recruited from the Littlehampton area. He retired in 1956. His successor as director was F. W. Toovey.[5][6] In retirement, Bewley chaired the Worthing Rural District Council.[3]

Bewley's 1923 book Diseases of Glasshouse Plants was for many years a standard reference. His short book Cultivation of Mushrooms, co-authored with J. Harnett, was an excellent guide for cultivating edible mushrooms and went through three editions. Bewley's comprehensive handbook Commercial Glasshouse Crops gives details of the husbandry of glasshouse crops in the 1st half of the 20th century.[3] His 1959 book Science Has Green Fingers was an outgrowth of his BBC gardening programmes with Roy Hay.[2]

Bewley made important contributions to control of plant diseases, biological control of glasshouse pests, virus-free seed, and CO2 enrichment in glasshouses.[3] For his services to the glasshouse crop industry in the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands, he was made in 1935 Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)[7] and in 1938 was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) of the Royal Horticultural Society.[2] In 1978 the GCRI officially opened the Bewley Conference Hall and established the Bewley Lectures.[8]

  1. ^ Desmond, Ray (1994-02-25). Dictionary of British And Irish Botanists And Horticulturists Including plant collectors, flower painters and garden designers. CRC Press. p. 70. ISBN 9780850668438.
  2. ^ a b c d Geoffrey C. Ainsworth. Brief Biographies of British Mycologists (John Webster, David Moore, eds.), pp. 15–17 (British Mycological Society; 1996) (ISBN 0952770407)
  3. ^ a b c d e Sheard, G. F. (1977). "Dr W. F. Bewley". Nature. 265 (5594): 571–572. Bibcode:1977Natur.265..571S. doi:10.1038/265571b0.
  4. ^ "Researches on Glasshouse Plants". Nature. 134 (3384): 388. 1934. Bibcode:1934Natur.134Q.388.. doi:10.1038/134388a0.
  5. ^ a b "History – GCRI – the GCRI Trust".
  6. ^ Toovey, F. W. (1959). "Glasshouse Crops Research Institute : Open Day". Nature. 184 (4692): 1033–1034. Bibcode:1959Natur.184.1033T. doi:10.1038/1841033a0.
  7. ^ "No. 34166". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 May 1935. pp. 3591–3618.
  8. ^ "The Bewley Lecture – the GCRI Trust".
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