William Bertram Turrill

William Bertram Turrill
Born 14 June 1890
Woodstock, Oxfordshire
Died 15 December 1961 (aged 71)
Surrey
Institutions Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Alma mater Chelsea Polytechnic[1]
Notable awards Linnean Medal (1958)
Fellow of the Royal Society[1]
Order of the British Empire
Author abbrev. (botany)
Spouse Florence Homan

William Bertram Turrill FRS OBE (14 June 1890 - 15 December 1961) was an English botanist.[3]

W B Turrill's mathematical classification of leaf shapes

Education

He was born in Woodstock, Oxfordshire to William Banbury and Thirza Mary (née Homan) Turrill and educated at the Woodstock National School.

Career

Turrill worked in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and was responsible for many innovations including a mathematical classification of leaf shapes.[1]

Awards and honours

Turrill received the Order of the British Empire in 1955 and the gold medal of the Linnean Society in 1958. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in March 1958[1] as someone:

“ Distinguished for his work on plant taxonomy, particularly for his experimental and genetical approach to problems among British plant species and for his exceptional knowledge of the floras of the Near East.[4] ”

This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Turrill when citing a botanical name.[5]

Personal life

He married Florence Homan in 1918.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Hubbard, C. E. (1971). "William Bertram Turrill 1890-1961". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 17: 688–626. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1971.0028.
  2. ↑ "Author Query for 'Turrill'". International Plant Names Index.
  3. ↑ http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/chronob/TURR1890.htm
  4. ↑ "Library and Archice Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  5. ↑ Brummitt, R. K.; C. E. Powell (1992). Authors of Plant Names. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 1-84246-085-4.