John Pilkington Hudson
John Pilkington Hudson,
Background
Hudson was born on 24 July 1910 in
After a one-year course in horticulture, he went on to take a University of London external degree in the subject at the Midland Agricultural and Dairy College in Sutton Bonington, and briefly lectured there in 1935. In 1936 he married Mary Gretta Heath (1910–1989), a dairy chemist, daughter of William Nathaniel Heath, farmer. They had two sons, Colin and Richard. They lived in Plumpton, East Sussex for three years while Hudson worked as an East Sussex County Council horticultural adviser.[1][3]
Bomb disposal
Shortly before the
Hudson's war career included several months in the United States liaising with bomb disposal experts there. He was appointed a
He returned to London [from the States] just in time to tackle a new type of enemy battery-powered fuse. It could be paralysed by liquid oxygen, which deadened the batteries, but the resulting extremely low temperature would crack the bomb-casing, setting off another type of fuse. Working on a half-tonne UXB near the Albert bridge... he neutralised the main fuse, and heard the crack but no explosion. He coolly climbed down into the crater and bodily removed the fuse.... For this he was awarded his first George Medal in 1943.[4]
In 1944 he received a
Research career
After the war, Hudson found work in the government agricultural department in Wellington, on the transportability of Actinidia deliciosa, then known as the Chinese gooseberry, now as the kiwifruit or kiwi. Seeds of the fruit had been introduced into New Zealand from China in the early 20th century. He was also involved in setting up a research station at Levin, New Zealand.
In 1948 the Hudsons returned to England, where he became a lecturer in horticulture at Sutton Bonington, by then a faculty of the new University of Nottingham. After obtaining a PhD degree in 1954, he became the first occupant of the university's chair of horticulture in 1958 and then dean of the faculty of agriculture and horticulture in 1965. His research was in the field of plant propagation, notably environmental factors in plant growth. He showed almost military precision in his research and administrative work, which he shared in 1961–1963 with the department of horticulture at the University of Khartoum, where he was seconded for six months each year as a visiting professor.
Hudson left Nottingham in 1967 to direct the Long Ashton Research Station, the job being coupled with a chair of horticultural science at the University of Bristol. There his administrative abilities were stretched further by government spending cuts and the need for full reorganisation. He was already editor (1965–1982) of the journal Experimental Agriculture and serving on other editorial boards. He was noted also for the precision and clarity of his teaching. Peter Waister, a former graduate student of Hudson's, stated at his funeral, "I was impressed by his ability to balance the three areas [of research, teaching and advisory work] and to be inspirational in them all, a rare achievement."
Hudson's honours included an associateship of honour of the
Retirement
John and Gretta Hudson retired to
References
- ^ a b c d Hudson's ODNB entry. Retrieved 24 June 2011. Subscription required.
- ^ Derbyshire Photographers, including some photographs taken by William Arthur Hudson: Retrieved 24 July 2011.
- Chapel en le Frith; The Independent obituary: Retrieved 24 July 2011.
- ^ The Guardian, 8 February 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
- ^ Son's website: Retrieved 24 July 2011.
- ^ The Independent obituary.
- ^ "In memory of Colin Hudson: 15/1/1938 – 22/2/2004". dickhudson.com. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
- ^ "Richard (Dick) Hudson". dickhudson.com. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
- ^ ODNB entry.
External sources
- The website created by his son Richard: http://dickhudson.com/family/#John
- James Owen: Danger UXB: The Heroic Story of the WWII Bomb Disposal Teams (London: Little, Brown, 2010) gives a lengthy account of the wartime work in which Hudson was involved.
- Another account of his bomb disposal work: Retrieved 24 July 2011.