Elsie Conway (née Phillips, 15 March 1902 – 22 July 1992) was a British phycologist. She served as president of the

British Phycological Society The British Phycological Society, founded in 1952, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom promoting the study of algae. Members interests include all aspects of the study of algae, including both natural biodiversity and applied uses. ...

from 1965 to 1967, and was one of the earliest women Fellows 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 ...

Early life and education

Conway was born Elsie Phillips on 15 March 1902 in Aldford, Cheshire, England, the elder daughter of William and Margaret Phillips. She attended the Queen's School in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

from 1912 to 1919. She then studied botany at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

, achieving a Bachelor of Science in 1922, Honours in 1923, and PhD in 1925. Contact with Margery Knight started her life-long interest in algae. However, her thesis, supervised by John McLean Thompson, was on floral

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

Career

She was appointed to a lectureship in botany at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

in 1925, but, as was then the norm, gave it up when she married in 1928. However, Conway returned to university life in 1938, at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

where she continued until retiring in 1969. Initially she was a part-time demonstrator but was appointed a lecturer in 1945 and promoted to senior lecturer in 1965. Her research focused on

red algae Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta also comprises one of the largest phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 currently recognized species with taxonomic revisions ongoing. The majority ...

, especially the genus ''

Porphyra ''Porphyra'' is a genus of coldwater seaweeds that grow in cold, shallow seawater. More specifically, it belongs to red algae phylum of laver species (from which comes laverbread), comprising approximately 70 species.Brodie, J.A. and Irvine, ...

''. In 1942, as imports became disrupted by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she became part of a group investigating whether agar could be produced for pharmaceutical purposes from marine algae found around the UK coast. The collaborators included

Sheina Marshall Sheina Macalister Marshall (20 April 1896 – 7 April 1977) was a Scottish marine biologist who dedicated her life to the study of plant and animal plankton. She was an authority on the copepod Calanus. She worked at the Marine Biological ...

, Andrew Picken Orr and Lillie Newton. They developed the red algae ''

Mastocarpus stellatus ''Mastocarpus stellatus,'' commonly known as carrageenan moss or false Irish moss, is a species in the Rhodophyceae division, a red algae seaweed division, and the Phyllophoracea family. ''M. stellatus'' is closely related to Irish Moss (''Ch ...

'' and ''

Chondrus crispus ''Chondrus crispus''—commonly called Irish moss or carrageen moss (Irish ''carraigín'', "little rock")—is a species of red algae which grows abundantly along the rocky parts of the Atlantic coast of Europe and North America. In its fresh c ...

'' as sources. Conway was also involved in a wartime project to remove bracken (''Pteridium aquilinum'') from land newly required for agriculture. In 1952, in collaboration with Shelia Lodge, Elsie Burrows, and Harry Powell, she studied the coastline of

Fair Isle Fair Isle (; sco, Fair Isle; non, Friðarey; gd, Fara) is an island in Shetland, in northern Scotland. It lies about halfway between mainland Shetland and Orkney. It is known for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting. Th ...

, one of the

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

islands, discovering that the intertidal zonation differed from other rocky shores around the United Kingdom due to the severe wave action and high local humidity. In 1952 she was a co-founder of the British Phycological Society and later served as its president from 1965 to 1967. From 1967 to 1969 she was president of the Andersonian Naturalists of Glasgow, and vice-president of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. She was elected a Fellow of the

in 1967. Between 1955 and 1965, Conway was the editor of the ''British Phycological Bulletin''. After her retirement from Glasgow, Conway undertook a visiting professorship at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

between 1969 and 1970, and then, from 1970 to 1972, a professorial fellowship at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

, producing a taxonomic list of Stewart Island algae. She returned to British Columbia between 1972 and 1974 for further study of the genus ''Porphyra'' in Canada's northeast Pacific region.

Publications

*''Clyde Seaweeds and Their Economic Uses'' (1942) *''The Raising of Intertidal Algal Zones on Fair Isle'' (1954) *''The Herbarium of British Algae in the Botanical Department of the University of Glasgow'' (1954) *''Water Soluble Polysaccharides of Porphyra Species'' (1962) *''Juvenile stages of the genus Porphyra'' (1966) *''Observations on an Unusual Form of Reproduction in Porphyra'' (1973) *''Porphyra in the Pacific'' (1973) *''The Marine Algae of Stewart Island, New Zealand'' (1974) *''The genus Porphyra in British Columbia and Washington'' (1976)

Family and later life

On 28 June 1928 she married Geoffrey Seymour Conway, an England

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player and son of

Robert Seymour Conway Robert Seymour Conway, FBA (1864–1933) was a British classical scholar and comparative philologist. Born in Stoke Newington, he was the elder brother of Katharine St John Conway. He was Hulme Professor of Latin Literature, at Victoria Univ ...

, at the Church of St Mary's-without the-Walls, Chester. They had three sons. The eldest,

John Conway John Horton Conway (26 December 1937 – 11 April 2020) was an English mathematician active in the theory of finite groups, knot theory, number theory, combinatorial game theory and coding theory. He also made contributions to many branches ...

, became a professor of history at the University of British Columbia. The second, Robert Conway, was a senior lecturer in radioastronomy at

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 ...

and the third son, Martin Conway, was president of the

Selly Oak Colleges Selly Oak Colleges was a federation of educational facilities which in the 1970s and 1980s was at the forefront of debates about ecumenism - the coming together of Christian churches and the creation of new united churches such as the Church of ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. The couple divorced in 1948. In later life she returned to live in Chester and died on 22 July 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conway, Elsie 1902 births 1992 deaths People from Cheshire West and Chester People educated at The Queen's School, Chester Alumni of the University of Liverpool Academics of Durham University Academics of the University of Glasgow British phycologists Women phycologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh