Ian Hepburn (29 May 1902 – 3 July 1974) was a British schoolmaster, botanist, ecologist and author.

Early life and education

Hepburn was born in Kensington, London, in 1902. He had a sister, Elspeth. His family later moved to

North Cornwall North Cornwall ( kw, An Tiredh Uhel) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is also the name of a former local government district, which was administered from Bodmin and Wadebridge . Other towns in the area are Launceston, Bude, P ...

, onto the Rock in the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

of the

River Camel The River Camel ( kw, Dowr Kammel, meaning ''crooked river'') is a river in Cornwall, England. It rises on the edge of Bodmin Moor and with its tributaries its catchment area covers much of North Cornwall. The river flows into the eastern Ce ...

, where he developed a love of nature and the sea. He was educated at Gresham's School in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, where he earned a scholarship to Lincoln College, Oxford to study natural sciences.

Career

After earning a degree from Lincoln College, Hepburn taught chemistry at

Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire, England. The school has been governed by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

for nearly four decades, 192564. For much of his time there, he was a

housemaster {{refimprove, date=September 2018 In British education, a housemaster is a schoolmaster in charge of a boarding house, normally at a boarding school and especially at a public school. The housemaster is responsible for the supervision and care ...

; latterly he was Second Master. He was elected Member of the

Royal Archaeological Institute The Royal Archaeological Institute (RAI) is a learned society, established in 1844, with interests in all aspects of the archaeological, architectural and landscape history of the British Isles. Membership is open to all with an interest in these ...

in 1950. He published papers on the vegetation of coastal

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

and Norfolk (places he had known from boyhood), and on that of

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. He served on the Council of the

British Ecological Society The British Ecological Society is a learned society in the field of ecology that was founded in 1913. It is the oldest ecological society in the world. The Society's original objective was "to promote and foster the study of Ecology in its widest ...

, and was active as a journal editor. He was a member of several natural history clubs and trusts in Northamptonshire and, later,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

. He has been described as, "a modest man, courteous, patient, popular with students and staff". As well as being a devoted teacher, he loved music: the Hepburn Music Competition at Oundle was started by him (while Second Master) in the early 1950s, and is named after him. He dedicated his book ''Flowers of the Coast'' to his wife Phyllis, "who loves the sea but is sometimes uncertain of her botany". An early review remarks, "This book, so clearly and unpretentiously written, so admirably illustrated, is imaginatively stimulating to a quite unusual degree. No fringe of beach or, scrubby headland, no strip of

brackish marsh Brackish marshes develop from salt marshes where a significant freshwater influx dilutes the seawater to brackish levels of salinity. This commonly happens upstream from salt marshes by estuaries of coastal rivers or near the mouths of coastal riv ...

, no tidal estuary can seem, when one has read it, devoid of interest."

Personal life

Hepburn married Phyllis Champ, daughter of the school's Director of Music, in 1947. He died suddenly at his home in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, age 72.

Bibliography

New Naturalist The New Naturalist Library (also known as ''The New Naturalists'') is a series of books published by Collins in the United Kingdom, on a variety of natural history topics relevant to the British Isles. The aim of the series at the start was: "T ...

#24.

References

1902 births 1974 deaths 20th-century British botanists British ecologists New Naturalist writers People from Kensington People educated at Gresham's School Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Teachers of Oundle School {{UK-botanist-stub