James Needham (mycologist)
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James Needham | |
|---|---|
_-_Six_mycologists_(cropped).png) | |
| Born | 19 March 1849 Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 14 July 1913 (aged 64) Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Contributions to taxonomic mycology, botany, and ecology |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mycology |
James Needham (19 March 1849 – 14 July 1913) was an English mycologist and iron moulder from Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire. He was a founding member of the British Mycological Society.[1] Notable for his working-class status, Needham became one of the foremost collectors of fungi and bryophytes in the UK.[2]
Early and personal life[edit]
James Needham was born on 19 March 1849 in Hebden Bridge to Mary (née Greenwood) and Thomas Greenwood (1829–1885), an iron moulder. He was the oldest of ten children.[3]
In 1861, Needham was working as a doffer in a cotton mill, while in 1871 he was working as an iron moulder.[3]
Needham married Mary Ann Parker in 1871 and together they had six children. A year after his wife's death in 1889, he married Amelia Jones.[3]
Mycological career[edit]
Needham began studying botany after a trip to Hardcastle Crags with the Hebden Bridge Cooperative Society in 1885.[3]
In 1889, he met Charles Crossland, who introduced him to fungi.[1][3] Together with Crossland, he conducted some of the earliest ecological studies.[4][5] He contributed many records to Crossland's and W. B. Crump's Flora of the Parish of Halifax (1904).[3]
Needham discovered the liverwort Jubula hutchinsiae in Hebden Valley in 1896.[3]
He was instrumental, along with Henry Thomas Soppitt, in the discovery of a heteroecious lifecycle in a Puccinia species.[4] He was also amongst the first proponents of plant and fungal ecology in Great Britain.
His collections and archives are dispersed across the UK including Leeds Museum and Tolson Museum.[6]
Death[edit]
Needham died on 14 July 1913, at the age of 64 in Hebden Bridge.[7] He was buried in Birchcliffe Baptist Church.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Webster, John (1997). "The British Mycological Society, 1896–1996". Mycological Research. 101 (10): 1153–1178. doi:10.1017/S0953756297004553.
- ^ Smith, Nathan (2020). "Minority taxa, marginalised collections: A focus on fungi". Journal of Natural Science Collections. 6: 49–58. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lawley, Mark. "James Needham (1849-1913)" (PDF). British Bryological Society.
- ^ a b Smith, Nathan (November 2020). "Provincial mycology and the legacy of Henry Thomas Soppitt (1858–1899) (W. T. Stearn Prize 2019)". Archives of Natural History. 47 (2): 219–235. doi:10.3366/anh.2020.0650. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
- ^ Smith, Nathan (2023). "Fertile substrate: the rise, fall, and succession of popular microscopy in Great Britain". Annals of Science. 80 (3): 268–292. doi:10.1080/00033790.2023.2181398.
- ^ Baker, R. A. (2016). "Where are they now? The records and collections of James Needham (1849 – 1913), amateur mycologist and bryologist of Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire. Locating his legacy and resources for further study". The Journal of Natural Science Collections. 4: 34–39. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
- ^ Desmond, Ray (23 December 2020). Dictionary Of British And Irish Botantists And Horticulturalists Including Plant Collectors, Flower Painters and Garden Designers. CRC Press. p. 512. ISBN 9781000162868.
External links[edit]
Media related to James Needham (mycologist) at Wikimedia Commons
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