SIR GHILLEAN
PRANCE 1937
MA.DPhil.Dsc.FRS.FLS.FIBiol.FRGS
THE EARLY YEARS
Basildon Camden Prance, an offocial in the British Colonial Service in
India working as a magistrate, married Margaret Macnair in 1935. A son
Ghillean was born 13th July 1937. Soon afterwards the family returned
to England and took up residence on the island of Skye off the scottish
mainland. After the war the family moved to Toddington in
Gloucestershire amongst the Malvern hills. Even from a young age
Ghillean showed a keen interest in natural history and when he entered
Malvern College, an exclusive public school for boys, his interest in
nature and botany in particular was nurtured and developed further by a
sympathetic and similarly interested school housemaster. After five
years at Malvern he was given a place as an undergraduate in Keble
College, Oxford where he studied botany and it was during this time
that the foundations of his christian faith were tested and
strengthened. Now twenty years old, and with a B.A. Hons. degree he
began a DPhil. in forest botany (A Taxanomic Study of Chrysobabanaceae)
having firmly decided to make botany his career. This was determined
also by his keen interest in taxonomy, the science of plant
classification. He also met his future wife Anne Hay, also a committed
christian, and they were married on his birthday 13th. July 1961
CAREER
Sir Ghillean's first adventure was in 1960 as an undergraduate at
Oxford when he led a scientific expedition to Turkey. His first
tropical expedition three years later, sponsored by the New York
Botanical Gardens whose staff he was about to join took him to Surinam
on the edge of the amazonian forest and this set the scene for his
future career. These expeditions were mainly sponsored by the New York
Botanical Gardens where he began as a research student and ended by
being the highly influential Research Director and Vice-President. He
saw for himself at first hand that the rainforests were irreplaceable
and that man's intrusion was causing wholesale destruction of an
ecological system involving both humans and plants. While there he lead
many surveying and collecting expeditions into the deepest jungle.
Through his teaching at the Manaus Centre at the edge of the Amazon
jungle and on his expeditions he was able to pass on his knowledge to
countless students whom he saw as the future guardians of the forest
and its plants and trees. In 1973, 'lent' by the NYBG he set up and
directed a masters degree course for the Brazilian National Amazonian
Research Institute but in 1975 returned to base in New York to work on
the Programa Flora Amazonia, a bi-national project to produce a
computerised database of the plants of the amazonian region. In 1975 he
was asked to look into the setting up of the Institute of Economic
Botany, a body to study plants in the service of humankind. In 1987,
now vice-President of the New York Botanical Gardens, he received a
letter from the Trustees of Kew Gardens in London which would change
his family's life once again.
ROYAL BOTANICAL GARDENS, KEW
The most public phase of Sir Ghillean's career in Britain was probably
during his time as Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. It was
his scientific expertise in the field of plant classification, his
leadership qualities and his unravalled knowledge of plants and ecology
gained at first hand on the research field expeditions in the Amazon
that brought him eventually to Kew. Ghillean was appointed Director
shortly after the devastating storm which swept across southern Britain
in October 1987. This accounted for the uprooting of many of the
ancient and rare tree specimens that would take generations to replace.
His first task was to oversee the restitution of the damage caused and
initiate planning needed to fund a programme of development for the
botanic gardens. With the 560 employees and the reputation of the
world's most influential botanical research establishment to maintain
he put a series of projects into action. These being helped enormously
by the support and social abilities of his wife Anne. Although he is
not a man who naturally seeks the limelight he launched a series of
public lectures to further this purpose while at the same time
responding to constant demands from across the country and around the
world. For as well as furthering the interests of Kew his mission is
directed towards the broader issues of the environment and its effect
on human life. I refer you to his ....Mission Statement
With
Margaret Thatcher at Kew in front of Victoria arizona, Water Lily
Photo courtesy Kew Botanic Gardens
CURRENT WORK
Until more information is available I can only say that Sir Ghillean is
Visiting Professor at Reading University and is also involved with the
setting up of the Eden Project in Cornwall. The latter is a
construction of vast greenhouses or biodomes which will house tropical
plants and trees from around the world. It is an amazing concept and a
world class venture. See...
http://www.edenproject.com
FAMILY HISTORY
Ghillean Prance's ancestry can be traced back through Robert Prance of
the Hampstead branch to the William Prances of Plymouth who in turn
originated in Northam, North Devon. This was a particularly
professional branch of the family having sea captains, stockbrokers and
members of the church amongst them with a high regard for public duty.
For this profile I have drawn heavily on the excellent book by Clive
Langmead entitled 'A Passion for plants. The story of Ghillean Prance's
Life from the Brazilian Forests of Brazil to Kew Gardens'. It is an
excellent read and I thoroughly recommend it. Due to be republished in
paperback by Kew Gardens. The hardback, although out of print,
obtainable through book dealers on the internet.
For example....http://www.abebooks.com
UK.ISBN 0 7459 2962 1
Michael Rothman painting of the female carpenter bee visiting the
flower of
the saspucaia
