Kathleen Sampson, B.Sc, M.Sc. (1892–1980)
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Trans. Br. mycol, Soc. 7S (3), 353":354 (1980). [ 353 ] Primed in Great Britain OBITUARY KA THLEEN SAMPSON, B.Sc., M.Sc. (1892-1980) Miss Kathleen Sampson, who died on 21 February in her 88th year, was a member of our Society for sixty years and the senior Past- President. Also, although never officially desig- nated as a plant pathologist, she may be claimed as the leading British woman phytopathological pioneer for her researches on diseases of herbage crops and cereals, by which she will be long remembered. Kathleen Sampson was born on 23 November 1892 at Chesterfield, where her father was in business as a pharmacist. He was also a keen naturalist and found in his young daughter an enthusiastic companion in his hobby and a willing pupil. She entered the Royal Holloway College in 1911, wasawarded the London University Gilchrist Scholarship for Women in 1913, and the Driver Scholarshp for Botany and the Driver Essay Prize in 1914, the year she graduated. During 1914-15 she engaged in research at RHC under Professor Margaret Benson (whose speciality was fossil ferns). As a result two papers on Phylloglossum 0007-1536/80/2828-6770 $01.00 © 1980 The British Mycological Society Volume 75, Part 2, was issued December, 1980 13 MYC 75
Transcript of Kathleen Sampson, B.Sc, M.Sc. (1892–1980)
Trans. Br. mycol, Soc. 7S (3), 353":354 (1980).
[ 353 ]
Primed in Great Britain
OBITUARY
KATHLEEN SAMPSON, B.Sc., M.Sc. (1892-1980)
Miss Kathleen Sampson, who died on 21February in her 88th year, was a member of ourSociety for sixty years and the senior Past-President. Also, although never officially desig-nated as a plant pathologist, she may be claimedas the leading British woman phytopathologicalpioneer for her researches on diseases of herbagecrops and cereals, by which she will be longremembered.
Kathleen Sampson was born on 23 November1892 at Chesterfield, where her father was in
business as a pharmacist. He was also a keennaturalist and found in his young daughter anenthusiastic companion in his hobby and a willingpupil. She entered the Royal Holloway College in1911,was awarded the London University GilchristScholarship for Women in 1913, and the DriverScholarshp for Botany and the Driver Essay Prizein 1914, the year she graduated. During 1914-15she engaged in research at RHC under ProfessorMargaret Benson (whose speciality was fossilferns). As a result two papers on Phylloglossum
0007-1536/80/2828-6770 $01.00 © 1980 The British Mycological Society
Volume 75, Part 2, was issued December, 1980
13 MYC 75
354 Obituary
appeared in the Annals of Botany for 1916 (vol. 30,pp. 315-331, 606-607) and this work was sub-mitted for the degree of M.Sc. awarded in 1917.During 1915-17 Miss Sampson was assistantlecturer in agricultural botany at the University ofLeeds, where in addition to teaching she workedon common scab of potato. She then joined Pro-fessor R. G. (later Sir George) Stapledon, whohad been appointed by the Board of Agriculture toset up a seed-testing service for farmers in thewartime drive for increased food production, andwith the return of peace she became, in 1919}lecturer in agricultural botany at the UniversityCollege of Wales, Aberystwyth, under ProfessorStapledon. This post she held until her retirementin 1945.
In 1919 the energies of Professor Stapledonwere devoted to establishing the Welsh PlantBreeding Station. Miss Sampson was an importantmember of the small group of scientists who gotthe new venture under way. The organization ofthe teaching activities of the Department ofAgricultural Botany was largely in her hands andit was at Professor Stapledon's suggestion that shebegan a study of the diseases affecting the pedigreegrasses and other plants in the Station's collections.
The first results of her investigations appearedin a bulletin of the Welsh Plant Breeding Station(Ser. H, NO.1, 1922) and in the Ministry ofAgriculture's reports on the occurrence of plantdiseases in England and Wales, to which MissSampson contributed from her time at Leeds tothe end of her working life. In 1937 the Ministrymade a grant which enabled J. H. Western (whohad the good fortune to have had Miss Sampson ashis university tutor and, later, his research super-visor) to extend the survey to the chief herbageseed-producing areas of the country and theseresults, together with those obtained at Aberyst-wyth, provided the basis for Sampson andWestern's monograph, Diseases of British Grassesand Herbage Legumes, published in 1941 and re-printed the next year. A second, much enlarged,edition appeared in 1954.
Smuts were one of Miss Sampson's specialinterests. She published a notable series of sixpapers on the biology of oat smuts (the last two incollaboration with Western). Her presidentialaddress was on life-cycles of smut fungi and in1940 she compiled a list of British Ustilaginales inthe Society's (still incomplete) census of Britishfungi. The former provided the basis for thegeneral account of smuts which preceded thetaxonomic account of British smuts by G. C.Ainsworth (for which Miss Sampson's list was the
starting point) in the monograph of British smutspublished under their joint authorship in 1950). Inother publications she made significant contri-butions to the knowledge of Olpidium, Clado-chytrium and Mastigosporium on grasses, theLolium endophyte, and Kabatiella on red clover.
Miss Sampson was a very efficient teacher whosestudents rapidly appreciated her remarkableclarity of thought and integrity. She was a womanof charm but maintained high standards whichwere never compromised, and she was intolerantof the slipshod both in her own work and that ofher students. She will be affectionately rememberedby all who knew her.
Miss Sampson played an active part in theSociety. She served on the Council and the PlantPathology Committee and was elected presidentfor 1938, when her presidential address, given inthe Comrades Memorial Hall at Aviemore underthe most primitive lighting, and with the tabledecorated with smutted oats, was memorable. Shewas regularly seen at forays and many of thepublished records reflect her special interests.
During the Second World War the Sampson'shouse in Acton was destroyed by a bomb, and in1945, when her older sister retired from schoolteaching and Sir George Stapledon, Kathleen'schief and a life-long friend, accepted an appoint-ment outside Wales, she also retired, and the twosisters went to live at Lacey Green in the Chilterns,where they shared their interests in the plants,birds, and wild life, life of the countryside theyloved, bee-keeping, the theatre, and local theatri-cals. Their major activity was the creation of abeautiful garden (documented by Kathleen's gar-den diary) and they were fortunate that with plentyof land available everything could be sited to thebest advantage. The garden became a veritable birdsanctuary and bird watching and identificationgave Kathleen much pleasure. After the death ofher sister, and with increasing age, she becamerather lonely in spite of the watchful care of thehelp, companion, and friend who has been left alife-interest in Miss Sampson's estate pending itsreversion to the Royal Society for the Protectionof Birds.
We are grateful to Ellis Griffiths, F. JoanMoore, and Grace M. Waterhouse for help withthis tribute. The more important of Miss Sampson'sscientific papers are compiled in the Fifty YearIndex to the Society's Transactions (1952) and theIndex to Volumes 1-50 of the Annals of AppliedBiology (1965).
G.C.A. AND J.H.W.
