Sydney Cross Harland (1891–1982) was a British agricultural

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

with considerable international experience. His area of expertise was especially in the growing of

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

Early life and education

Sydney Cross Harland was born in

Snainton __NOTOC__ Snainton is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2011 UK Census, Snainton parish had a population of 754, a decrease on the 2001 UK Census figure of 891. Notable peop ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

on 19 June 1891, the son of Erasmus Harland and his wife Eliza. He was educated at the municipal secondary school in

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough is located on the North Sea coastline. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 10 ...

. He studied Sciences with a focus upon Geology at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

graduating BSc in 1912 and gaining a doctorate (DSc) in 1919.

Career

In 1922 he left Britain to take up a teaching role in the Danish-owned island of

St Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorpo ...

(now part of the US Virgin Islands). In 1923 he became Professor of Botany at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. In 1926 he also became Director of the Cotton Research Station in Trinidad, continuing in this role until 1935. In 1940 he moved to

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

as Director of the Institute of Genetics within the National Agricultural Society of Peru. He returned to Britain in 1949 as a Reader in Botany 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 Univer ...

being made the George Harrison Professor of Botany at the University of Manchester the following year, 1950, and retaining this post until 1958, when he was subsequently made an emeritus professor. He was made a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1943. In 1951 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

Claude Wardlaw Claude Wilson Wardlaw (4 February 1901 – 16 December 1985) was a British botanist, who specialised in diseases of the banana.

, Herbert Graham Cannon, William Black and William Robb. In 1952, a paper published by Kathleen Basford on a cross species of Fuchsia which indicated the species had existed before the separation of landmasses 20-30 million years ago, spurred him to offer her a job at the university. The two worked together at the university, including traveling to Peru together to breed maize.

Personal life

He married Emily Wilson Cameron in 1915. They had two daughters, but divorced and in 1934 he married Olive Sylvia Atteck, from a wealthy Trinidad family. Their son became a Professor of Child Health in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. Another son of his is psychologist Richard Lynn. He died in

on 8 November 1982.

Publications

*''The Genetics of Cotton'' (1939)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harland, Sydney Cross 1891 births 1982 deaths Alumni of King's College London Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester English botanists People from Snainton