Martha Elizabeth Newton (11 November 1941 - 4 January 2020) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

bryologist and botanist, specialising in

cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

and field surveying.

Early life and education

Newton was born in 1941 at her family's Lumm Farm, Littlemoss, Limehurst in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. She had one sister. She attended Littlemoss School and then Hyde County Grammar School for a year before transferring to the new Astley County Grammar School. She became interested in natural history as a child and her interest was encouraged by her parents. Newton attended

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

and graduated in 1964 with a BSc, having specialised in

botany 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

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

. She was awarded a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

by the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

in 1967.

Academic career

Her first academic post in 1964 was as a research assistant at

University College of North Wales, Bangor Bangor University () is a public research university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It was established by Royal Charter in 1885 as the University College of North Wales (UCNW; ), and in 1893 became one of the founding institutions of the federal ...

with Tony (AJE) Smith. From 1967 until 1973 she worked for the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of list of global issues, global issues, and to provide an active prese ...

, then briefly on the chromosomes of

mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

(''Aedes aegypti''). From 1976 she held short-term posts at

Manchester Museum Manchester Museum is a museum displaying works of archaeology, anthropology and natural history and is owned by the University of Manchester, in England. Sited on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road (A34 road, A34) at the heart of the university's group ...

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

and

Liverpool World Museum World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the ...

. In 1990 she became a consultant and organised field courses. During her doctoral work at Bangor she found her speciality in the

mosses Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ho ...

and

liverworts Liverworts are a group of non-vascular plant, non-vascular embryophyte, land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in wh ...

as well as their identification and biogeography. She recorded the chromosome number of a large number of UK bryophytes during this time and was able to continue with this work until 1990 while in several academic posts where she undertook teaching, recording, editorial work and organised events. Her data was included in the monograph ''Liverwort flora of the British Isles''. Her expertise in bryophyte identification and biogeography led to her consultancy work for the

Countryside Council for Wales The Countryside Council for Wales (CCW; ) was a Welsh Assembly sponsored body responsible for wildlife conservation, landscape and countryside access in Wales. It merged with Forestry Commission Wales, and Environment Agency Wales to form ...

in the 1990s. She undertook the baseline assessment of liverworts in north-west Wales in 2001 - 2003. Newton also pioneered the use of fixed

quadrat A quadrat is a frame used in ecology, geography, and biology to isolate a standard unit of area for study of the distribution of an item over a large area. Quadrats typically occupy an area of 0.25 m2 and are traditionally square, but modern quad ...

s for monitoring bryophytes. Between 2004 and 2012 she monitored Afon Ty-cerrig for the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

for one of the few detailed records of bryophytes both before and after a

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

scheme was installed. She joined the

British Bryological Society The British Bryological Society is an academic society dedicated to bryology, which encourages the study of bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts). It publishes the peer-reviewed ''Journal of Bryology''. History The Society developed from ...

in 1964 and was elected as a council member in 1977 and 1978. She was meetings secretary from 1980-88 and then general secretary from 1989-99. The field courses that she ran for 40 years for the

Field Studies Council Field Studies Council is an educational charity based in the UK, which offers opportunities for people to learn about and engage with the outdoors. History The organisation was established as the Council for the Promotion of Field Studies in ...

and Scottish Field Studies Association about bryology were extremely popular despite containing extensive field-work followed by laboratory study in the evenings.

Honours

In 1986 she was awarded a

DSc DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

by the University of Manchester. In 2003 she was awarded honorary membership of the British Bryological Society.

Death

Newton died 4 January 2020 having lived in her family home in

Stalybridge Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, it had a population of 26,830. Historic counties of England, Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east o ...

for most of her life.

Selected publications

Newton was author or co-author of over 70 publications. These included monographs and book chapters as well as scientific papers. They included: * AJE Smith and ME Newton (1966) Chromosome studies on some British and Irish mosses I. ''Transactions of the British Bryological Society'' 5 117 - 130 * ME Newton (1973) A taxonomic assessment of '' Bartramia'', '' Breutelia'' and ''Exodokidium'' on

South Georgia South Georgia is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. ...

. ''British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 32 1 - 14 * ME Newton (1981) The bryophyte collections of Jethro Tinker (1788 - 1871) ''The Naturalist'' 106 111 - 117 * ME Newton (1984) The cytogenetics of bryophytes. In ''The experimental biology of bryophytes'' edited by AF Dyer and JG Duckett, Academic Press. pp 65 – 96 * AJ Wallace and ME Newton (1987) Heterochromatin diversity and cyclic responses to selective silver staining in ''Aedes aegypti'' (l.) ''Chromosoma'' 95 89 - 93 * ME Newton (1990) ''Practical Guide to Bryophyte Chromosomes'' BBS Special Volume 2 Newton also contributed to distribution maps of several bryophyte species in volumes of the ''Atlas of the Bryophytes of Britain and Ireland'' published between 1991 and 1994. Some of the specimens she collected are in the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

herbarium.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Martha Elizabeth 1941 births 2020 deaths British bryologists Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of Bangor University Academics of Bangor University Academics of the University of Manchester Academics of the University of Leeds Academics of the University of Liverpool British Antarctic Survey People from Droylsden Women bryologists British women botanists 20th-century British women scientists 21st-century British women scientists