Arthur Robson Wannop OBE FRSE (1900–1972) was a 20th-century British agriculturalist and authority on hill-farming. He was the first director of the Hill Farming Research Organisation and was a principle deviser of the

Hill Farming Act 1946 The Hill Farming Act 1946 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed during the Labour government of Clement Attlee. This Act aimed to encourage the expansion of pastoral farming Pastoral farming (also known in some regio ...

Life

He was born on 1 August 1900 at Little Blencow Farm near Greystoke in Cumberland the fourth child of Thomas Wannop (d.1930), a farmer, and his wife Esther Ann Robson. Arthur was educated at

Blencow Blencow or Blencowe is a small village near Penrith, Cumbria, England. It is divided by the River Petteril into Great Blencow to the south and Little Blencow to the north. Great Blencow is in the civil parish of Dacre while Little Blencow is w ...

Grammar School and the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Penrith. He then went to

Liverpool University , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

to study Engineering, graduating BEng in 1920. He then took a second degree in Agriculture at

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

graduating BSc in 1922. Arthur inherited a share in his father's holding at Langthwaite Farm at Warwick Bridge IN 1930. He then worked as an agricultural advisor with the East of Scotland College of Agriculture from 1922 to 1932, serving variously in Fife and the Borders. In 1932 he moved as Agricultural Advisor with Northumberland County Council. In 1935 he became Director of County Work for the North of Scotland College of Agriculture in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. In 1943 he joined a British Mission to the USA to exchange experience of farming issues with US farmers and in 1948 was appointed as Scientific Advisor to the Department of Agriculture for Scotland. In 1952 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir Patrick Laird, Stephen Watson, Edward Wyllie Fenton, and Alick Buchanan-Smith, Baron Balerno. In 1953 he became the first Director of the Hill Farming Research Organisation. In 1957 Edwin Porter Arrowsmith asked the UK government to send a hill-farming advisor to the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

. The government chose Wannop and this trip was eventually organised from October 1960 to January 1961. This resulted in the Wannop Report 1961. He retired in 1965 and died in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

on 11 September 1972 aged 72.

Family

He was married to Helann Wyse. They had three children including the urban and regional planner and author Professor Urlan Wannop, Ann and Ewen.

References

1900 births 1972 deaths British agriculturalists Alumni of the University of Liverpool Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People from Blencow People from Greystoke, Cumbria {{UK-bio-stub