Henry Smith Holden (30 November 1887 – 16 May 1963) was a British botanist. Specialising in forensics, he became director of laboratories in New Scotland Yard in 1946. The

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

holds an annual lecture named the H. S. Holden Botanical Lecture in his honour.

Life

Holden was born at Castleton near

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, the son of Henry Charlton Holden, a clerk to a woollen merchant, and his wife, Betsy Cockcroft. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School and then won a scholarship to Manchester University to study science, where he graduated with a BSc in Botany. His father died during his university course, and Henry took over the role of maintaining his mother and the cost of educating his younger brother, Ernest Holden, as soon as he was able. In 1910, he began lecturing in botany at University College,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. His career was interrupted 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 ...

, during which he served (1916–19) as a bacteriologist at the Royal Naval Hospital in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. Returning to Nottingham after the war, he began to specialise. In 1921, he received an honorary doctorate (DSc) from Manchester University. In 1927, he set up a department of industrial bacteriology. In the same year, he 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 Sir William Wright Smith, Robert Graham, Malcolm Wilson,

James Montagu Frank Drummond James Montagu Frank Drummond FRSE FLS (1881–1965) was a Scottish botanist, descended from a long line of botanists including James Drummond all living in the Inverarity area around Kirriemuir, and mainly working on the Forthringham estate. Fri ...

, and James Robert Matthews. In 1928, he was created head of the biology department, and in 1932, he was given a full professorship as professor of botany, also taking over the botany department in 1934. After some earlier police consultation on issues relating to water pollution and food contamination, he was asked by the Home Office to set up Britain’s first forensic laboratory in Nottingham in 1936, serving all of England and Wales. This was known as the East Midland Forensic Science Laboratory. In 1958, he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He retired with his wife to

Kenley Kenley is an area within the London Borough of Croydon. Prior to its incorporation into Greater London in 1965 it was in the historic county of Surrey. It is situated south of Purley, east of Coulsdon, north of Caterham and Whyteleafe and we ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. He died on 16 May 1963 at Dene Hospital in Caterham following a brief illness.

Family

In 1917, he married Annie Janet Hamer, daughter of Richard Hamer, a civil engineer. They had one son and one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Henry Smith 1887 births 1963 deaths People from Rochdale Alumni of the University of Manchester British forensic scientists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Paleobotanists