Robert John Tillyard

'When the CSIR sought for a man to tackle the huge problems of destruction wrought by insects on the Australian economy one candidate stood out above all others. He was Dr R J Tillyard of the Cawthron Institute. Tillyard's collections and descriptions of insect life had made him a world figure. After difficult negotiations he was brought to Canberra, made a profound impression on members of both Houses of Parliament in a unique address and was appointed Chief of the Entomology Division of CSIR in March 1928 at a salary higher than that of any other. This appointment could have been a major tragedy for CSIR. Tillyard, for all his brilliance, suffered such mental stresses that he was difficult as subordinate, colleague or chief. Within months Rivett [CEO of CSIR] had resignations pending from almost every scientist who had come into frequent contact with Tillyard. ... In July 1933 Dr Tillyard suffered a breakdown in New York. Effective control of his department had for some time fallen on Dr A J Nicholson. Finally, after prolonged sick leave had failed to produce any assurance from experts of Tillyard's ultimate recovery, Dr Nicholson ... took over as Chief of Economic Entomology.'[4]

While Tillyard was holding the CSIR position he was awarded the R. M. Johnston memorial medal of the Royal Society of Tasmania in 1929 and the Clarke Medal of the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1931. In 1935 he was given the von Mueller medal. His health improved after his retirement and he busily continued his scientific studies. He was well known in the United States which he had visited more than once. He died following a motor accident on 13 January 1937. He married in 1909 Patricia Cruske who survived him with four daughters. In his last years Tillyard was much interested in some work on supposed pre-Cambrian fossils in South Australia which was done in co operation with Edgeworth David. The account of their investigations is contained in Memoir on Fossils of the late Pre-Cambrian, by David and Tillyard, published in 1936. Tillyard was one of the most influential workers on the fossils of the Elmo Permian deposits, believing that the key to the true classification of insects would be found in these early fossils.

Tillyard was killed following a car accident near Goulburn between Canberra and Sydney. The car had skidded and rolled over and he had hit the windscreen and broken his neck. He died at Goulburn Hospital.

Psychical research

In the 1920s Tillyard became interested in psychical research. On his visits to England he worked with Harry Price at his National Laboratory of Psychical Research. He became vice-president of the laboratory in 1926.^[5]

In 1926 there was a minor controversy in the Nature journal amongst several writers. This was caused by Tillyard writing a predominantly supportive review of Arthur Conan Doyle's book The History of Spiritualism. Critics such as A. A. Campbell Swinton pointed to the evidence of fraud in mediumship and Doyle's nonscientific approach to the subject.^[6][7][8]

Tillyard had attended séances with the medium Mina Crandon in Boston. He managed to persuade Sir Richard Gregory the editor of Nature to publish his findings.^[9] In the 18 August 1928 issue of Nature in a paper entitled Evidence of Survival of a Human Personality he presented his observations on Crandon's séance phenomena and his belief in life after death.^[10]

Publications

Entomology

• Mesozoic and Tertiary Insects of Queensland and New South Wales (1916)
• The Biology of Dragonflies: (Odonata or Paraneuroptera (1917)
• The Insects of Australia and New Zealand (1926)

Psychical Research

• Tillyard, Robert John (1926). "The History of Spiritualism".
  S2CID 4122097
  .
• Tillyard, Robert John (1928). "Normal and Supernormal Phenomena".
  doi:10.1038/122229a0
  .
• Tillyard, Robert John (1928). "Evidence of Survival of a Human Personality".
  S2CID 28483085
  .

References

1. ^
   doi:10.1098/rsbm.1938.0016
   .
2. ^
   S2CID 216202656
   .
3. ^ "Tillyard, Robert John (TLRT900RJ)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
4. ISBN 0959910905
   . p. 105.
5. ^ Tabori, Paul. (1966). Harry Price: The Biography of a Ghosthunter. Living Books. p. 7
6. S2CID 4124050
   .
7. S2CID 4125188
   .
8. S2CID 4059745
   .
9. ^ Evans, John. (1989). Insect Delight: A Life's Journey. Brolga Press. p. 46
10. ^ Christopher, Milbourne. (1975). Mediums, Mystics & the Occult. Thomas Y. Crowell. p. 223

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert John Tillyard.

• Serle, Percival (1949). "Tillyard, Robert John". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
• D. F. Waterhouse, K. R. Norris, 'Tillyard, Robin John (1881–1937)',
  MUP
  , 1990, pp 232–233
• R. J. Tillyard, at windsofkansas.com

External links

• Works by or about Robert John Tillyard at Internet Archive

Awards
Preceded by Leonard Keith Ward	Clarke Medal 1931	Succeeded by Frederick Chapman