William Broadhurst Brierley (1889–1963) was an English

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

. He is known particularly for his work on "grey mould".

Life

Brierley had a deprived background, and was brought up in a poor district of Manchester. At 14 he became a pupil-teacher in his elementary school. He went into teacher training at

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

, and then moved to the botany course. There he studied under

Frederick Ernest Weiss Frederick Ernest Weiss FRS FLS VMH (2 November 1865 – 7 January 1953) was an Anglo-German Botanist. He was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour in 1947. Education Weiss was educated at the Owens College (later Victoria University of Manches ...

at At this period he taught evening classes to support himself. With an honours degree of 1911 in botany, he went on at Manchester to complete an M.Sc. He married in July 1914: he knew Susan Fairhurst through the undergraduate Sociological Society. They lived in

Levenshulme Levenshulme () is an area of Manchester, England, bordering Fallowfield, Longsight, Gorton, Burnage, Heaton Chapel and Reddish; it is approximately halfway between Stockport and Manchester city centre on the A6. Levenshulme is predominantly re ...

. He was then an assistant lecturer in economic botany and demonstrator at Manchester. During

World War I 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 ...

, Brierley took up in 1915 a post as assistant in plant pathology at the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

, and the couple moved to

Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commiss ...

. He then served in the

Artists' Rifles The 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), historically known as The Artists Rifles is a regiment of the Army Reserve. Its name is abbreviated to 21 SAS(R). Raised in London in 1859 as a volunteer light infantry unit, the regimen ...

, being invalided out in 1916. He returned to a post at Kew, studying fungal disease in vegetables. In 1918 he moved, and founded a mycology department at

Rothamsted Experimental Station Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founded in 1843. It is located at Harp ...

. In 1934 Brierley became professor of agricultural botany at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, as successor to

John Percival John Percival (3 April 1779 – 7 September 1862), known as Mad Jack Percival, was a celebrated officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the War of 1812, the campaign against West Indies pirates, and the Mexican–Amer ...

. He retired in 1954. In later life, he and his second wife

Marjorie Brierley Marjorie Flowers Brierley (24 March 1893 - 21 April 1984) was a pioneer of psychoanalysis in Britain, and helped chair the Controversial discussions of 1942 which shaped the subsequent history of the British Psychoanalytical Society. Biography M ...

resided in the

Newlands Valley The Newlands Valley is in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. It is regarded as one of the most picturesque and quiet valleys in the national park, even though it is situated very close to the popular tourist town of Keswick and ...

Works

In 1916 Brierley showed that shab, a disease of

lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found in Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, and from Europe across to northern and easte ...

plants, was fungal, caused by a fungus that attacked parts of the plant above ground. The disease was further investigated by Charles Russell Metcalfe (1904–1991). His work in 1918 clarified the life cycle of ''

Botrytis cinerea ''Botrytis cinerea'' is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as "botrytis bunch rot"; in horticulture, it is usually called "grey mould" or ...

'', the "grey mould" fungus. In the 1920s, he with colleagues made standard a dilution plate technique for studying soil fungi. For 25 years, Brierley edited the ''

Annals of Applied Biology The Association of Applied Biologists (AAB) is a United Kingdom biological science learned society. From its foundation in 1904 until 1934, the institution was the Association of Economic Biologists. It publishes research and holds conferences in ...

''. He translated the ''Pflanzliche Infektionslehre'' (1946) of

Ernst Albert Gäumann Ernst Albert Gäumann (6 October 1893 – 5 December 1963) was a Swiss botanist and mycologist. Born in Lyss, Canton of Bern, he obtained his early education in Biel, where he experienced both German and French languages and cultures. Studying wi ...

as ''Principles of Plant Infection'' (1950).

Family

Brierley married, firstly, in 1914

Susan Sutherland Fairhurst Susan Sutherland Isaacs, CBE (née Fairhurst; 24 May 1885 – 12 October 1948; also known as Ursula Wise) was a Lancashire-born educational psychologist and psychoanalyst. She published studies on the intellectual and social development of c ...

. They were divorced, after a separation that began around 1918; and in 1922 she married

Nathan Isaacs Nathan Isaacs (1895–1966) was a British educational psychologist. He worked in the metals trade, but after his marriage to Susan Sutherland Fairhurst, they were partners in her work on early education. Early life Isaacs was born in Nuremberg, ...

. Brierley's second wife was Marjorie Brierley.

Notes

External links

List of publications, cybertruffle.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brierley, William Broadhurst 1889 births 1963 deaths British mycologists Scientists from Manchester