Reverend William Leigh Williamson Eyre (17 March 1841 – 25 October 1914) 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 ...

and naturalist.

Background and education

W.L.W. Eyre was born in Padbury,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. He was educated for the merchant navy and worked as a seaman until his religious convictions led him to enter

Lichfield Theological College Lichfield Theological College was founded in 1857 to train Anglican clergy to serve in the Church of England. It was located on the south side of the Cathedral Close in Lichfield, Staffordshire and closed in 1972. Notable staff * Cecil Cherrin ...

to study for Holy Orders. He was ordained in 1865 and became

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

of a number of English parishes before being appointed, in 1875, rector of

Swarraton Swarraton is a small village in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. At the 2011 Census the village population was included in the civil parish of Northington. It lies three miles (5 km) from New Alresford covers an acreag ...

and

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Northington Northington is a village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. It lies half a mile from the neighbouring village, Swarraton. Its nearest railway station is at New Alresford, on the Mid-Hants railway line. Re ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Natural history and mycology

Rev. Eyre had a long-standing interest in natural history. He was a member of the Hampshire Field Club and took an interest in local plants, especially species of the genus ''

Rubus ''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, with over 1,350 species. Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of these ...

'', and in land and freshwater molluscs. His botanical and conchological collections were eventually left to

Haslemere Museum The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south west Surrey, England, around south west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill (Hindhead, Surrey), Beacon Hill, they comprise t ...

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. ...

, where they remain today. He also joined the Woolhope Club, as a result of which he developed an expertise in

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

. In 1896 he became a founder member of the British Mycological Society and was elected its president in 1903, when he gave an address on "mycology as an instrument of recreation". Eyre was also a fellow of the

Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is a long-established institution that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Associate Fellows can be lay enthus ...

, keeping local weather records, and undertook research into local history, publishing an account of his parish. His collections of new and interesting fungal species, mostly made in the Swarraton area, were for the most part passed on to and described by contemporary mycologists 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 ...

, namely M.C. Cooke,

George Massee George Edward Massee (20 December 1845 – 16 February 1917) was an English mycologist, plant pathologist, and botanist. Background and education George Massee was born in Scampston, East Riding of Yorkshire, the son of a farmer. He was educate ...

, and E.M. Wakefield. Eyre published few papers himself (mainly a series on Hampshire fungi for the local Field Club), His collections of fungi are now in the mycological herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Taxa

Eyre named and described the agaric now known as ''Lepiota grangei'' (Eyre) Kühner, 1934. He named this species after Grange Park in Northington. A number of species were named in Eyre's honor, including ''Melanophyllum eyrei'' (Massee) Singer, ''Basidiodendron eyrei'' (Wakef.) Luck-Allen, and ''Poria eyrei'' Bres.

Selected publications

*Eyre, W.L.W. (1887). A list of Hampshire fungi. ''Papers and proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club'' 1: 49–50. *Eyre, W.L.W. (1900). Notes on Hants fungi. ''Transactions of the British Mycological Society'' 1: 110–112. *Eyre, W.L.W. (1900). Fungi. In: Doubleday, H.A. (ed.) ''Victoria County History of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight''. Vol. 1: 82–87. University of London. *Eyre, W.L.W. (1907). ''A list of the fungi of Grange Park and neighbourhood, Hampshire''. Winchester: Warren & Son.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyre, William Leigh Williamson English mycologists 1841 births 1914 deaths English naturalists