William Broadhurst Brierley (1889–1963) was an English mycologist. He is known particularly for his work on "grey mould".
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, and then moved to the botany course. [1] There he studied under Frederick Ernest Weiss at [2] 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. [1] He married in July 1914: he knew Susan Fairhurst through the undergraduate Sociological Society. They lived in Levenshulme. [3] He was then an assistant lecturer in economic botany and demonstrator at Manchester. [4]
During World War I, Brierley took up in 1915 a post as assistant in plant pathology at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the couple moved to Richmond, London. [3] He then served in the Artists' Rifles, being invalided out in 1916. He returned to a post at Kew, studying fungal disease in vegetables. [5] [6] In 1918 he moved, and founded a mycology department at Rothamsted Experimental Station. [7]
In 1934 Brierley became professor of agricultural botany at the University of Reading, as successor to John Percival. [5] [8] He retired in 1954. In later life, he and his second wife Marjorie Brierley resided in the Newlands Valley. [5] [9]
In 1916 Brierley showed that shab, a disease of lavender 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). [10] His work in 1918 clarified the life cycle of Botrytis cinerea, the "grey mould" fungus. [11] In the 1920s, he with colleagues made standard a dilution plate technique for studying soil fungi. [12]
For 25 years, Brierley edited the Annals of Applied Biology. [5] He translated the Pflanzliche Infektionslehre (1946) of Ernst Albert Gäumann as Principles of Plant Infection (1950). [13]
Brierley married, firstly, in 1914 Susan Sutherland Fairhurst. They were divorced, after a separation that began around 1918; and in 1922 she married Nathan Isaacs. [14] [15] Brierley's second wife was Marjorie Brierley. [16]
William Broadhurst Brierley (1889–1963) was an English mycologist. He is known particularly for his work on "grey mould".
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, and then moved to the botany course. [1] There he studied under Frederick Ernest Weiss at [2] 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. [1] He married in July 1914: he knew Susan Fairhurst through the undergraduate Sociological Society. They lived in Levenshulme. [3] He was then an assistant lecturer in economic botany and demonstrator at Manchester. [4]
During World War I, Brierley took up in 1915 a post as assistant in plant pathology at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the couple moved to Richmond, London. [3] He then served in the Artists' Rifles, being invalided out in 1916. He returned to a post at Kew, studying fungal disease in vegetables. [5] [6] In 1918 he moved, and founded a mycology department at Rothamsted Experimental Station. [7]
In 1934 Brierley became professor of agricultural botany at the University of Reading, as successor to John Percival. [5] [8] He retired in 1954. In later life, he and his second wife Marjorie Brierley resided in the Newlands Valley. [5] [9]
In 1916 Brierley showed that shab, a disease of lavender 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). [10] His work in 1918 clarified the life cycle of Botrytis cinerea, the "grey mould" fungus. [11] In the 1920s, he with colleagues made standard a dilution plate technique for studying soil fungi. [12]
For 25 years, Brierley edited the Annals of Applied Biology. [5] He translated the Pflanzliche Infektionslehre (1946) of Ernst Albert Gäumann as Principles of Plant Infection (1950). [13]
Brierley married, firstly, in 1914 Susan Sutherland Fairhurst. They were divorced, after a separation that began around 1918; and in 1922 she married Nathan Isaacs. [14] [15] Brierley's second wife was Marjorie Brierley. [16]