Breeding and the Mendelian discovery (1912) (20223944108)

Arthur Dukinfield Darbishire

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(14 February 1879 – 26 December 1915) was a short-lived but influential British zoologist and geneticist. He was the first person to lecture in Genetics in the UK. He caused a stir in the world of genetics in the early 20th century in the debate over theory, sometimes referred to as The Mendel Wars. From 1901 he conducted a series of experiments (working under

Raphael Weldon Walter Frank Raphael Weldon Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (15 March 1860 – 13 April 1906), was an English evolutionary biologist and a founder of biometry. He was the joint founding editor of ''Biometrika'', with Francis Galton and Karl Pea ...

) on the hybridisation of mice in the laboratory. He was author of the highly influential book ''Breeding and the Mendelian Discovery''.

Life

He was born in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

in London on 14 February 1879, the son of Florence Eckersley (1848–1917) and Dr Samuel Dukinfield Darbishire (1846–1892). Soon the family moved to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where his father was appointed Physician at the

Radcliffe Infirmary The Radcliffe Infirmary was a hospital in central north Oxford, England, located at the southern end of Woodstock Road on the western side, backing onto Walton Street. History The initial proposals to build a hospital in Oxford were put forw ...

. In 1881, the family are listed as living at 15 New Inn Hall Street with four servants. In 1888 his father took early retirement on health grounds and the family moved to

Plas Mawr Plas Mawr ( en, Great Hall) is an Elizabethan townhouse in Conwy, North Wales, dating from the 16th century. The property was built by Robert Wynn, a member of the local gentry, following his marriage to his first wife, Dorothy Griffith. Plas ...

in Wales. However, the family returned to Oxford following his father’s premature death in 1892. Having suffered from

rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a streptococcal throat infection. Signs and symptoms include fever, multiple painful jo ...

, as a child Arthur was considered unsuitable for boarding school and was taught locally at Magdalen College School before attending the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He graduated with an MA in Natural Sciences and Zoology from

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

in 1902. He stayed on to act as Demonstrator in Zoology at the College. In 1911, he became Lecturer in Genetics at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and in July 1912 was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

James Cossar Ewart James Cossar Ewart FRS FRSE (26 November 1851 – 31 December 1933) was a Scottish zoologist. He performed breeding experiments with horses and zebras which disproved earlier theories of heredity. Life Ewart was born in Penicuik, Midlo ...

James Hartley Ashworth James Hartley Ashworth FRS FRSE DSc SZS (2 May 1874 – 4 February 1936) was a British marine zoologist. Life See He was born on 2, May 1874, in Accrington in Lancashire, the only son of James Ashworth. He spent most of his early life in Bu ...

, Sir

James Anderson Scott Watson Sir James Anderson Scott Watson CBE, FRSE (16 November 1889–1966) was a 20th-century Scottish agriculturalist. Education and early life Watson was born on 16 November 1889 in Forfar, the son of William Watson a farmer at Downieken near Dun ...

and

Ramsay Heatley Traquair Ramsay Heatley Traquair FRSE FRS (30 July 1840 – 22 November 1912) was a Scottish naturalist and palaeontologist who became a leading expert on fossil fish. Traquair trained as a medical doctor, but his thesis was on aspects of fish anatom ...

. While in Edinburgh he was greatly influenced by Henri Louis Bergson who was visiting to give the

Gifford Lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford. Their purpose is to "promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term – in o ...

in the spring of 1914. His career was cut short by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1914 he was lecturing in Genetics at the School of Agriculture in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

. He was unable to accept either of the two offers of professorships while in the United States, and instead returned to Britain at the outbreak of war. At first he was declared unfit for active service due to his physical condition, and was given a posting at munitions production. Not enjoying his alternative posting, he persevered and was eventually accepted as a private into the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

in July 1915. He became seriously ill during training at Gailes Training Camp near London.

Death

He was taken ill with

cerebral meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion o ...

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

1915 and died on the morning of 26 December. He was

gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

as a second lieutenant in the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

on 28 December 1915, two days after his death. His name appears on the Roll of Honour in Sunningwell Village Hall. He is also named on the war memorials for

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, the

and the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

Family

Darbishire's name on the Edinburgh University War Memorial

Although Darbishire never married he allegedly had a child by Mrs Winifred Carritt, wife of Prof Edgar Carritt of

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. Anthony Carritt was raised as the professor's son. Shortly after being told of his true father, Carritt joined the volunteers in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

with his brother, Noel Carritt. Carritt was killed at the

Battle of Brunete The Battle of Brunete (6–25 July 1937), fought west of Madrid, was a Republican attempt to alleviate the pressure exerted by the Nationalists on the capital and on the north during the Spanish Civil War. Although initially successful, the Rep ...

. His sister

Helen Darbishire Helen Darbishire, (1881–1961) was an English literary scholar, who was Principal of Somerville College, Oxford, from 1931 until her retirement in 1945.'Obituary: Miss Helen Darbishire, former principal of Somerville College', ''The Guardian' ...

(1881–1961) was Principal of

Somerville College Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

in Oxford. His cousin, Bernhard Vernon Darbishire (died 1935), was a minor

war poet A war poet is a poet who participates in a war and writes about their experiences, or a non-combatant who writes poems about war. While the term is applied especially to those who served during the First World War, the term can be applied to a p ...

. His uncle, Robert Dukinfield Darbishire, was a prominent

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

lawyer who founded the

Whitworth Art Gallery The Whitworth is an art gallery in Manchester, England, containing about 55,000 items in its collection. The gallery is located in Whitworth Park and is part of the University of Manchester. In 2015, the Whitworth reopened after it was transfo ...

in Manchester.

Publications

''On the Bearing of Mendelian Principles of Heredity on Current Theories of the Origin of Species''
(1904) *''On the supposed Antagonism of Mendelian to Biometric Theories of Heredity'' (1905)
''The Mutation Theory: Experiments and Observations of the Origin of Species in the Vegetable Kingdom''
by

Hugo de Vries Hugo Marie de Vries () (16 February 1848 – 21 May 1935) was a Dutch botanist and one of the first geneticists. He is known chiefly for suggesting the concept of genes, rediscovering the laws of heredity in the 1890s while apparently unaware of ...

(1909) translated by Arthur Dukinfield Darbishire and

John Bretland Farmer Sir John Bretland Farmer FRS FRSE (5 April 1865 – 26 January 1944) was a British botanist. He believed that chromomeres not chromosomes were the unit of heredity. Farmer and J. E. S. Moore introduced the term ''meiosis'' in 1905. Life ...

''Breeding and the Mendelian Discovery''
(1911)
''An Introduction to Biology''
(1917) posthumous publishing edited by his sister Helen

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darbishire, Arthur Dukinfield 1879 births 1915 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Academics of the University of Edinburgh British geneticists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British military personnel killed in World War I British Army personnel of World War I Royal Garrison Artillery officers Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders soldiers