Prof Paul Egerton Weatherley FRS FRSE MIB (1917–2001) was a 20th-century British botanist. In authorship he is usually known as P. E. Weatherley.

Life

He was born in Leicester on 6 May 1917, the son of Leonard Roger Weatherley and his wife, Ethel Maude Collin. He was educated at

Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys was a grammar school in Leicester, England, in existence from 1876 to 1976. It was succeeded by the present-day Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College. History After William Wyggeston's death in 1536, his bro ...

. He won a scholarship to

Oxford University 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 th ...

studying Botany under A. G. Tansley and graduated MA in 1939. He then won a further scholarship from the Colonial Office to study tropical agriculture, gaining a doctorate in 1942 and then being posted to Africa as Government Botanist to the Department of Agriculture in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. His journey to Uganda was extremely eventful as his ship was sunk by a

German U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

off the coast of Africa and he spent 18 hours in a lifeboat before being rescued.Scotsman (newspaper) 13 September 2001 He stayed in Uganda until 1947 when he returned to lecture at 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 Univ ...

. In 1949 he went to the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

being promoted to senior lecturer in 1956. In 1959 he was made Professor of Botany at the

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

. Whilst there he became a member of the Cairngorm Club and was an elder at St Machar's Cathedral. In 1960 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were

James Robert Matthews James Robert Matthews FRSE FLS CBE LLD (1889–1978) was a 20th-century Scottish botanist. He was president of the British Ecological Society in 1934 and president of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh 1939 to 1942. Life He was born in the vil ...

, Robert Brown, Harold Fletcher and

Brian Burtt Brian Laurence "Bill" Burtt FRSE FLS (27 August 1913 – 30 May 2008), was an English botanist and taxonomist who is noted for his contributions to the family Gesneriaceae. In a career that spanned 74 years, he worked first at the Royal Botanic ...

. He was made a Fellow of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1973. He retired to Torphins in 1981. Sadly he developed

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. He died in Torphins in Aberdeenshire on 8 August 2001.

Family

In 1943 he married Margaret Logan Pirie. They had three daughters and a son.

Publications

*'' A Porometer for use in the Field'' (1966) *''Some Aspects of the Munch Hypothesis'' (1975) *''Hydraulic Resistance of the Soil-Root Interface'' (1979) *''Root Contraction in Transpiring Plants'' (1982) *''Water Uptake and Flow in Roots'' (1982)

References

1917 births 2001 deaths Scientists from Leicester Alumni of the University of Oxford Academics of the University of Aberdeen British botanists Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Linnean Society of London People educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys People from Torphins {{UK-bio-stub