Members (Genetical society)
The 34 members attending the first meeting were N. Barlow, W. Bateson, R. H. Biffen, F. T. Brooks, W. R. Brierly, E. W. Bunyard, D. M. Cayley, F. Chittenden, E. J. Collins, J. H. Cunningham, D. W. Cutler, F. Engledow, A. E. Gairdner, R. R. Gates, R. Haig Thomas, J. B. S. Haldane, A. W. Hill, C. C. Hurst, F. W. Keble, J. W. Lesley, E. W. Macbride, G. P. Mudge, M. Onslow, M. S. Pease, C. Pellew, R. C. Punnett, C. W. Richardson, R. N. Salaman, E. R. Saunders, G. Sherrard, A. W. Sutton, E. R. Thornton, F. E. Weiss, and H. B. Killby.
The rules agreed by the Society limited the numbers of members to 120; a restriction that was not lifted until 1934. Candidates for admission had to be or have been at some time ‘engaged in genetical research, the teaching of genetics, or in the practical breeding of plants or animals’.
The meetings in the early years were informal gatherings for discussion and there were very few formal papers. Many members were under the influence of Bateson’s application of Mendelian analysis to a wide variety of organisms. This was a period of looking for heritable variation wherever it occurred, whether in plants, insects, caged birds, or cattle. The early membership reflected the interests of the Society: of the 108 members in 1924, 42 were private individuals and plant or animal breeders, 1 was engaged in medical research, 3 in agricultural administration, 37 were at research institutes and 25 were at Universities. ‘The Society was therefore born out of research workers and private individuals, with a minority assistance, and in the case of Professor MacBride hindrance, from the universities’ (Lewis, 1969).
See also:
Dan Lewis, ‘The Genetical Society- the first fifty years’, pp. 1-7 in The Genetical Society- the first fifty years edited by John Jinks. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1969.
F.A. E. Crew, ‘Recollections of the early days of the genetical society’, Ibid., pp. 9-15.
