33:
833:
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Blackburn rode a motorcycle in the early days of motoring and later, unusually for the time, drove her own car. She went on botanical expeditions to isolated islands in the
Hebrides. She appears never to have married, and seems to have lived in the family home in
806:"Kathleen Bever Blackburn (1892-1968), a botanist, received the Trail Award and Linnean Society Gold Medal in 1930 for outstanding contributions to biological microscopy. Attached is her letter of acceptance. #LinnSocFemaleFellow #celebratingourfellows"
305:. Her skills at reconstructing past vegetation using both pollen analysis and examination of larger plant fragments were utilised by archaeologists working on Hadrian's Wall and elsewhere in the North East of England.
286:. Prior to these discoveries by her and others it had not been realised that plants had sex chromosomes. The fact that X and Y sex chromosomes are actually quite rare in plants, occurring only in a minority of
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280:) and established that female and male flowers of these plants had X and Y sex chromosomes (Blackburn 1923, 1924). She was the first to correctly identify the Y chromosome as the larger of the two, in
165:
after a number of ministries around the United
Kingdom. Kathleen Blackburn and her sister Dorothy were active members of the congregation. Their father was a noted naturalist and amateur conchologist.
220:, her head of department at Armstrong College, 1927–1946. Her first published work, in 1917, was an anatomical study of vascular tissue in seedlings of the buttercup family,
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297:
theory of repopulation of landscapes after glaciations. In the 1940s she became involved in researching soils and peat bogs in connection with the development of the
317:, the Northern Naturalists' Union, the University of Durham Philosophical Society and the Wallis Club (a naturalists' field club). She carried out field work in the
157:
Kathleen Bever
Blackburn was born in 1892. Her middle name is sometimes incorrectly given as "Beyer". Her father, E. P. Blackburn, was a prominent minister in the
510:
Blackburn, K. B.; Raistrick, A. (1931). "The Late
Glacial and Post-glacial Periods in the North Pennines; Part II: Possible Post-glacial Survivals in our Flora".
32:
239:
species). In these, she showed that the basal number of chromosomes in the nucleus of the cells of roses is seven, that different forms of roses were in fact
293:
By the 1930s, Blackburn had become adept at pollen analysis, especially of grains found in peat. This led on to investigations, with others, concerning the
341:
She was a member of the
Armstrong College Staff Dramatic Society and played parts in various plays. She gave talks outside the university, for example at
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878:
863:
370:
105:
314:
472:"Genetical and Cytological Studies in Hybrid Roses; Part I: The Origin of a Fertile Hexaploid Form in the Pimpinellifoliae – Villosae crosses"
449:
Blackburn, K. B.; Heslop-Harrison, J. W. (1924). "A Preliminary
Account of the Chromosomes and Chromosome Behaviour in the Salicaceae".
837:
883:
193:
642:
217:
497:
Blackburn, K. B. (1924). "The
Cytological Aspects of the Determination of Sex in the Dioecious Forms of Lychnis".
888:
138:
88:
208:
in
Cytology in 1947. She was Supervisor of Research in the Department of Botany in 1949, and retired in 1957.
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169:
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paid a glowing tribute ... had solved the well nigh insoluble riddle of cross-fertilization of the rose".
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552:"The Dating of a Deposit Containing an Elk Skeleton Found at Neasham Near Darlington, County Durham"
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species (in which the male and female flowers are borne on separate individuals), was known to her.
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relationships. Her work on roses made her reputation, at home and abroad. In 1924, she attended the
525:"On a Peat from the Island of Barra, Outer Hebrides: Data for the Study of Post-glacial History. X"
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She was also an active field botanist and a member of a number of natural history societies: the
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267:(1924) said: "Botanical research is another field in which women will be represented ... Sir
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321:, as a member of the expeditions made there by her department in the 1930s. She sat on the
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Entomologists section of "A History of
Naturalists in North East England", ed. Lunn, A. G
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Botanists section of "A History of
Naturalists in North East England", ed. Lunn, A. G
222:
762:. Department of Adult Education, University of Newcastle upon Tyne. pp. 20–35.
676:. Department of Adult Education, University of Newcastle upon Tyne. pp. 36–44.
441:
389:"The Status of the British Rose Forms as determined by their Cytological Behaviour"
235:
37:
Blackburn, probably in 1926 when attending the International Botanical Congress at
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and gold medal in 1930 "for outstanding contributions to biological microscopy".
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At Newcastle, her research resulted in many papers, frequently co-authored with
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338:, Newcastle upon Tyne, at least in later years, with her sister, Dorothy.
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in botany at Armstrong College, Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1918, made
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From 1914 to 1916, Blackburn was a lecturer in botany at the
643:"Kathleen Bever Blackburn: A Distinguished British Botanist"
595:"Kathleen Beyer Blackburn (1892-1968), sitting in chair"
412:
Blackburn, K. B. (1923). "Sex chromosomes in plants".
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Deaths from Parkinson's disease in the United Kingdom
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Blackburn retired in 1957 and died in August 1968 of
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76:
61:
53:
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23:
349:, and wrote popular articles on botanical topics.
818:– includes photograph of her letter of acceptance
470:Blackburn, K. B.; Heslop-Harrison, J. W. (1924).
387:Blackburn, K. B.; Heslop-Harrison, J. W. (1921).
688:"Kathleen Beyer Blackburn, (1892-1968) seated"
512:Transactions of the Northern Naturalists Union
8:
121:. Her principal contributions were in plant
113:best remembered for the 1923 discovery that
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229:Papers in 1921, 1924 and 1925 explored the
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869:Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
361:, which had started before she retired.
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476:British Journal of Experimental Biology
371:Fellow of the Linnean Society of London
732:"Obituaries: Kathleen Bever Blackburn"
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499:British Journal of Experimental Botany
315:Natural History Society of Northumbria
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274:She then studied the campions (genus
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145:(later renamed King's College, now
57:August 1968 (aged 75–76)
569:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1952.tb06145.x
542:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1946.tb05045.x
463:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a089900
405:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a089753
373:(FLS) by 1927. She received their
176:, from which she graduated with a
14:
874:Alumni of Bedford College, London
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692:Smithsonian Institution Archives
599:Smithsonian Institution Archives
879:20th-century British botanists
864:Academics of Durham University
233:complements of British roses (
200:, London. She was appointed a
1:
369:Blackburn had been elected a
161:Church, ending his career at
129:. She was also a pioneer of
194:Southlands Training College
180:(BSc) degree in 1912 and a
915:
601:. Smithsonian Institution.
109:(1892–1968) was a British
694:. Smithsonian Institution
550:Blackburn, K. B. (1952).
523:Blackburn, K. B. (1946).
325:'s management committee.
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69:
30:
838:Kathleen Bever Blackburn
730:Valentine, D.H. (1970).
101:Kathleen Bever Blackburn
25:Kathleen Bever Blackburn
884:British women botanists
647:Northumbrian Naturalist
641:Hart, Alan L. (2017).
184:(MSc) degree in 1914.
758:Clark, W. A. (1983).
149:) from 1918 to 1957.
840:at Wikimedia Commons
672:Dunn, T. C. (1983).
353:Retirement and death
218:J.W. Heslop-Harrison
174:University of London
147:Newcastle University
489:10.1242/jeb.1.4.557
426:1923Natur.112..687B
359:Parkinson's disease
303:Forestry Commission
253:British Association
178:Bachelor of Science
309:External interests
265:The Women’s Leader
836:Media related to
804:(14 March 2018).
420:(2819): 687–688.
182:Master of Science
143:Durham University
139:Armstrong College
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89:Armstrong College
71:Scientific career
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889:Cytopathologists
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457:(150): 361–378.
451:Annals of Botany
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434:10.1038/112687c0
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399:(138): 159–188.
393:Annals of Botany
283:Silene latifolia
269:Frederick Keeble
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39:Ithaca, New York
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85:Institutions
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859:1968 deaths
854:1892 births
657:23 November
482:: 557–570.
375:Trail Award
261:suffragette
255:meeting in
243:arising by
115:plant cells
62:Citizenship
848:Categories
788:Daily Mail
578:References
505:: 413–430.
343:Sunderland
263:magazine,
241:polyploids
231:chromosome
153:Early life
714:The Times
288:dioecious
249:taxonomic
198:Battersea
159:Methodist
747:: 69–74.
740:Watsonia
518:: 30–36.
319:Hebrides
212:Research
202:lecturer
127:genetics
123:cytology
111:botanist
814:Twitter
653:: 49–67
442:4085828
422:Bibcode
336:Jesmond
301:by the
295:nunatak
257:Toronto
163:Jesmond
65:British
791:, 1937
777:, 1932
717:, 1924
698:9 July
440:
414:Nature
365:Awards
347:Hexham
277:Silene
206:Reader
188:Career
135:botany
80:Botany
77:Fields
810:Tweet
735:(PDF)
438:S2CID
117:have
700:2013
659:2018
345:and
259:. A
236:Rosa
125:and
54:Died
49:1892
46:Born
564:doi
537:doi
484:doi
459:doi
430:doi
418:112
401:doi
137:at
106:FLS
850::
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