Waterhouse, Walter Lawry (1887 - 1969)

Summary

Walter Waterhouse was renowned for his pioneering research into rusts of wheat, and his success in breeding wheat varieties resistant to rust and of high baking quality and yield. His research on annual changes in the pathogenic variability indicated the importance of grasses as hosts for economically important rusts. In 1921 Waterhouse was appointed Lecturer in the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Sydney, and worked successfully with Robert Watt to built the reputation of the Faculty in teaching and research. Waterhouse, who succeeded Watt as professor of Agriculture in 1946, served as President of the Royal and Linnean Societies of New South Wales and was a foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

Details

Chronology

1907

Education - Diploma in Agriculture, Hawkesbury Agricultural College

1914

Education - Bachelor of Agricultural Science (BAgSc), University of Sydney

1915

Award - 1851 Exhibition - nominated by University of Sydney, but not considered by the commission due to hostilities.

1916

Award - Military Cross (MC)

1916 - 1917

Military service - First World War. Lieutenant, Australian Imperial Forces

1918

Award - Walter and Eliza Hall Agricultural Research Fellowship, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London

1921

Education - Diploma from Imperial College of Science and Technology, London

1921 - 1937

Career position - Lecturer in agricultural botany, plant pathology, and genetics and plant breeding, Department of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, University of Sydney

1926 - 1932

Career event - Elected Associate Member (Agriculture), Australian National Research Council

1929

Education - Doctor of Agricultural Science (DAgSc), University of Sydney

1932

Career event - Elected Member (Agriculture), Australian National Research Council

1935 - 1936

Career position - President, Linnean Society of New South Wales

1937 -

Career event - Fellow, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS)

1937

Career position - President, Royal Society of New South Wales

1937 - 1946

Career position - Reader in Agriculture, University of Sydney

1938

Award - Farrer Memorial Medal, Farrer Memorial Trust

1939

Career position - President, Section K (Agriculture and Forestry), Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1943

Award - Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales

1946 - 1952

Career position - Professor of Agriculture, University of Sydney

1948

Award - Royal Society of New South Wales Medal

1949

Award - Farrer Memorial Medal, Farrer Memorial Trust

1949

Award - Australian Medal of Agricultural Science, Australian Institute of Agricultural Science

1952

Life event - Retired

1952

Award - James Cook Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales

1954 - 1969

Award - Foundation Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1955

Award - Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) - for his considerable contribution to the advancement of the wheat industry

1956

Award - Elvin Charles Stalkman Award, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A.

1960 - 1969

Award - Fellow, Australian Institute of Agricultural Science

Related entries

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Walter Lawry Waterhouse - Records, 1878 - 1968, ML MSS 2792; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Morton, Prof. R.K., 1961 - 1964, 9-65; School of Biochemistry, the University of Melbourne - Series 9 - Departmental Files, 1961-1964; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Campbell, Keith O., 'Waterhouse, Walter Lawry (1887-1969), agricultural scientist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 12: 1891 - 1939 Smy-Z, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1990), pp. 391-392. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120440b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Waterhouse, W. L., 'Presidential address: Some aspects of plant pathology [Section K - Agriculture and Forestry]', Report of the twenty-fourth meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, Canberra meeting, January, 1939 (1939), 234-259. Details
• Watson, I. A., 'Walter Lawry Waterhouse, 1887 - 1969 (memorial series, no. 22)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 95 (3) (1971), 260-3. Details
• Watson, I. A.; and Frankel, O. H., 'Walter Lawry Waterhouse', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 2 (3) (1972), 76-91. http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9720230076.htm. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7965426. Details
• CA 2001 Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office, 'NAA: B2455, Waterhouse Walter Lawry', B2455 First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=8375468. Details
• 'Waterhouse, Walter Lawry (1887-1969)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1467017. Details

Resource Sections

• Watson, I. A.; and Frankel, O. H., 'Walter Lawry Waterhouse 1887-1969', in Australian Academy of Science Biographical Memoirs, Australian Academy of Science, 2006, https://www.science.org.au/fellowship/fellows/biographical-memoirs/walter-lawry-waterhouse-1887-1969. Details

See also

• Copeland, Les, 'A century of agriculture in the University of Sydney', Agricultural science, 31 (2) (2020), 59-65. Details
• Fenner, Frank ed., History of Microbiology in Australia (Melbourne: Australian Society for Microbiology, 1990), 624 pp. Details
• McIntosh, R. A.; and Smith-White, S., 'Irvine Armstrong Watson 1914-1986', Historical Records of Australian Science, 7 (4) (1989), 405-415. Details
• 'Waterhouse, Walter Lawry (1887 - 1969)', Farrer Memorial Trust Medal recipients and orations, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Sydney, 2023, https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/596201/farrer_oration_1938_dr_wl_waterhouse.pdf. https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/about-us/who-we-are/interacting_2/farrer-memorial-trust/farrer-memorial-trust-medal-recipients-and-orations. Details