Sir Albert Charles Seward FRS (9 October 1863 – 11 April 1941) was a British

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

Life

Seward was born in Lancaster. His first education was at Lancaster Grammar School and he then went on to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, intending to fulfil parents' wish that he would dedicate his life to the Church. His boyhood interest in botany and zoology soon resurfaced, helped along by inspiring lectures from William Crawford Williamson. His aptitude soon became apparent and he was appointed lecturer in botany at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1890, later becoming a tutor at Emmanuel, and still later succeeding Harry Marshall Ward as Professor of Botany, Cambridge University from 1906 to 1936. There, he became a founding member of the University of Cambridge Eugenics Society, eventually becoming its Chairman. He was joint editor (with

Francis Darwin Sir Francis Darwin (16 August 1848 – 19 September 1925) was a British botanist. He was the third son of the naturalist and scientist Charles Darwin. Biography Francis Darwin was born at Down House, Downe, Kent in 1848. He was the third s ...

) of ''More letters of Charles Darwin'' (1903). He was elected as fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1898 and was awarded the Murchison Medal of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

in 1908. In 1931 Seward dismissed the notion of a biological origin of

stromatolites Stromatolites ( ) or stromatoliths () are layered sedimentary formations ( microbialite) that are created mainly by photosynthetic microorganisms such as cyanobacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria, and Pseudomonadota (formerly proteobacteria) ...

. This rejection became known as "Seward's folly". Seward's studies of

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

palaeobotany earned him membership of the

at the youthful age of thirty-five. He devoted a great deal of time to education, both as college and departmental administrator, and as writer on educational matters. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Seward when

citing A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose o ...

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or cultivar group, Group epithets must conform t ...

. His interest in plants went beyond the living and the fossil. In 1935 he published a study on the floral carvings in the chapter house of

Southwell Minster Southwell Minster_(church), Minster, strictly since 1884 Southwell Cathedral, and formally the Cathedral and Parish Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Church of England cathedral in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. The cathedral is the s ...

. Seward died in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, aged 77.

Family

His daughter married his prize pupil, John Walton son of the artist

Edward Arthur Walton Edward Arthur Walton (15 April 1860 in Glanderston House, Barrhead, Renfrewshire – 18 March 1922 in Edinburgh) was a Scottish painter of landscapes and portraits, associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Life Edward was one ...

. John was later Professor of Botany at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

Timeline

*1885-86 First class honours at

*1886 Embarks on a career in palaeobotany *1890-1906 Lecturer in botany at Cambridge *1892 Adam Sedgwick#Sedgwick Prize, Sedgwick Prize for essay ''Fossil Plants as Tests of Climate'' *1894-95 Publication of ''"The Wealden Flora"'', 2 vols *1898 Fellow of the

of London *1898-1919 Publication o
''"Fossil Plants"''
4 vols *1900-1904 Publication of ''"The Jurassic Flora"'', 2 vols *1906-36 Professor of botany at Cambridge *1908 Murchison Medal of the

*1909 Publication o
''"Darwin and Modern Science"''
- Essays edited by A. C. Seward *1915-36 Master of Downing College, Cambridge *1922-24 President of the

*1924-26 Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge *1925 Royal Medal of the

*1930 President of the Fifth International Botanical Congress *1930 Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society *1931 President of the International Union of Biological Sciences *1931 Publication of ''"Plant Life Through the Ages"'' *1934 Darwin Medal of the

*1936 Knighthood conferred *1939 President of the British Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmazon Books
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Selected publications

''Fossil Floras of Cape Colony''
(1903) * ''More Letters of Charles Darwin'
(''Volume 1''''Volume 2''
1903) [with

]
''Darwin and Modern Science''
(1909)
Links With the Past in the Plant World
(1911)
''Science and the Nation''
(1917)
''Plant Life Through the Ages''
(1933)
''Geology for Everyman''
(1943);

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seward, Albert Charles 1863 births 1941 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Botanists with author abbreviations 19th-century British botanists British eugenicists 19th-century British geologists Charles Darwin biographers Fellows of the Geological Society of London Fellows of the Royal Society Masters of Downing College, Cambridge British paleobotanists Presidents of the British Science Association Royal Medal winners Vice-chancellors of the University of Cambridge Wollaston Medal winners Professors of Botany (Cambridge) Presidents of the Geological Society of London Presidents of the Cambridge Philosophical Society