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William Law (1836-1901) was a Rochdale mill owner who accumulated an exceptional library of English and Scottish manuscripts and books.
Haverfield, Eleanor Luisa, 1870-1945, writer
Born in Callander, Scotland, Eleanor Luisa Haverfield wrote fiction for young adults. She is also said to have been a talented artist and wood carver. She took a great interest in village activities during a long residence in Peaslake, Surrey, where she died, age 74.
Wyllie, Peter John, 1930-, physicist and academic
Peter John Wyllie is a retired petrologist, author and explorer. Born in 1930 in London, Wyllie studied at St Andrews University where he gained a degree in Physics and Geology in 1952. Following this he joined the British North Greenland Expedition as a geologist. The expedition was a pioneering British-led 2 year scientific expedition to the North Greenland Ice Sheet. The expedition sought to conduct research in many areas including geology, seismology, meteorology, gravimetry, physiology and the logistics of operating in a polar climate for prolonged periods.
Following the expedition Wyllie gained a PHD in geology and went on to have a successful academic career in the field. Emigrating to the United States in the late 1950s he was appointed professor of geology at California Institute of Technology in 1983, a position which he held until his retirement in 1999. During his career as an academic Wyllie made notable contributions to research in the field of petrology and authored 2 textbooks in the fields of plate tectonics and magmatism.
Pilling, Christopher, 1936-2019, poet
Christopher Pilling was a prize-winner in the National Poetry Competition and has published nine collections of his own poetry, as well as translations of poems by Tristan Corbière (a Book of the Year for the Sunday Telegraph and the World Service of the BBC in 1995), Max Jacob and Lucien Becker (a PBS Recommended Translation in 2004). He has also written a number of plays. With William Scammell, he founded a Cumbrian Poets' workshop which has run for thirty years, and has seen two of his plays performed at the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick. In 2006, Christopher Pilling won first prize in the John Dryden Translation Competition, one of the UK's most prestigious translation awards.
Foreign Bodies is an original poetry collection published in 1992. Love at the Full is an English translation of Lucien Becker's Plein Amour , and was published in 2004. Springing From Catullus is an English translation of Catullus' complete works, and was published in 2009.
Brett-Knowles, Richard, 1924-2015, naval officer and electrical engineer
Richard Brett-Knowles was born in Essex in 1924. Educated at St Catherine's College of Oxford University, with a life-long interest in radio engineering, Brett Knowles worked for the Telecommunications Research Establishment during World Word 2 which developed early radar technology. During the latter years of the war he joined the RAF, learnt to fly aeroplanes, and spent time in occupied Dutch territory learning about German radar technology.
In 1946 he joined the Royal Navy as an Instructor Officer, teaching at Dartmouth College. During this time he participated in the British North Greenland Expedition as an assistant scientist and radio officer from 1952 to 1954. The expedition was a pioneering British-led attempt to conduct research in several areas including polar geology, seismology, meteorology, physiology, gravimetry, radio communications and developing expertise in polar logistics.
Later, Brett-Knowles left the Navy and joined the Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment where he was involved in several research and development projects. Following early retirement he became a consultant engineer and contributed to the development of products in the commercial aerospace industry. After retirement Brett-Knowles continued his life-long amateur radio hobby up until his death in 2015.
Taylor, Kenneth Earl, 1923-, naval radio operator
Born in London in 1923 Ken Taylor joined the Royal Navy in 1938. He served on several ships and naval bases during and after the end of the war after receiving training and specialising in radio operations. In 1952 Taylor joined the British North Greenland Expedition as a radio operator. The 2 year expedition was wide ranging and undertook research in fields including geology, meteorology, glaciology, seismology, physiology and the logistics of long term polar exploration. Following the expedition Taylor continued his naval service serving in ships and shore bases until his retirement from the service in 1963.
Erskine, Angus Bruce, 1929-2006, naval officer and explorer
Angus Erskine was born in Edinburgh in 1929 and attended Dartmouth Naval College, before going to sea shortly before the end of World War 2. He began his acquaintance with the polar regions as part of the crew of the Navies Antarctic guard ship, and was later selected to join the British North Greenland Expedition in charge of the expedition's sledge dogs. The expedition had wide ranging objectives in the fields of geology, meteorology, glaciology, seismology, physiology and the logistics of operating in a polar environment.
After his return from Greenland Erskine returned to naval duties and was appointed to the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey where he commanded that station at Detaille Island and led survey teams working in the area. Erskine Glacier on the west coast of Graham Land is named after him. He continued his career in the Navy until 1972, after which he led the training ship Captain Scott for 4 years, before setting up his own travel business, which he sold in 1991. Erskine died in Edinburgh in 2007, aged 77.