Poultry Research Centre (1947-1986) (research institution)
Dates
- Existence: 1947 - 1986
Biography
Edinburgh had established a reputation for poultry genetics research during the 1920s, chiefly through the interests of the director of the Institute of Animal Genetics, F.A.E. Crew. A keen poultry breeder since his youth, Crew published on aspects of intersexuality and reproductive physiology in the fowl, subjects which were also taken up by Alan Greenwood, who had arrived at the Institute as a doctoral student in 1923.
With Crew away on military service during the Second World War, Greenwood became Acting Director of the Institute as well as Head of the Poultry Section. In 1946, he was invited by the Agricultural Research Council to submit a programme of poultry research, as part of their investment in a number of research centres to improve Britain’s agricultural output. The ARC agreed to his proposals and in 1947 the Poultry Research Centre was created under Greenwood’s direction. The PRC's buildings were erected in 1949 on lands feued from the University of Edinburgh adjacent to the Institute of Animal Genetics, with an outstation to house larger experiments being built on the Bush Estate, south of Edinburgh. The PRC inherited as experimental material the inbred flock of Brown Leghorns which had since 1931 been maintained at the Institute of Animal Genetics without the introduction of fresh blood.
The remit of research in the PRC was wide, being concerned with scientific problems of interest to the agricultural industry as well as the science of genetics. Studies encompassed such areas as egg production, heredity, welfare, sexual characteristics and environmental factors in development and productivity. The Centre also housed a group of workers supported from the British Empire Cancer Campaign who used the Leghorn flock for research on cancer and allied conditions.
In 1971, the Outstation relocated to larger premises in Roslin, Midlothian, adjacent to the Dryden and Mountmarle farms, and the PRC itself relocated there in 1980. Six years later, part of the PRC integrated into the Edinburgh Research Station of the new Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics Research (IAPGR). The nutrition, biochemistry and pathology programmes of PRC were incorporated into the Institute of Grassland and Animal Production (IGAP) as the IGAP Poultry Department. This remained on the former PRC site and was incorporated into IAPGR in 1990.
PRC directors
Chronology:
- 1947-1962
- A.W. Greenwood
- 1962-1978
- T.C. Carter
- 1978-1986
- D.W.F. Shannon
Found in 31 Collections and/or Records:
Secretary's file relating to the merger of the libraries of PRC and ABRO and information on library procedures, 1986-1990
Includes plans, correspondence about staffing and practicalities surrounding the merging of the two libraries. Also contains copies of the Library Newsletter.
Seminar on the Aims and Objective of the Poultry Research Centre, 13 January 1950
Seminar given at the Institute of Animal Genetics, King's Buildings. Draft contains some edits.
The genealogy of the Poultry Research Centre, Edinburgh, 1971
Located in Poultry Research Centre Staff Papers 1971.
The Poultry Research Centre, 1951
Located in Poultry Research Centre Staff Papers 1947-52.
The Poultry Research Centre at Edinburgh, 1954
Located in Poultry Research Centre Staff Papers 1953-57.
The Poultry Research Centre at Edinburgh , 1954
Article from the World's Poulty Science Association Journal.
The Poultry Research Centre of the Agricultural Research Council, 1954
Located in Poultry Research Centre Staff Papers 1953-57.
The Poultry Research Centre of the Agricultural Research Council, June 1953
Report by Alan W. Greenwood from Modern Poultry Keeping.
The Poultry Research Centre of the Agricultural Research Council, 1954
From Animal Breeding Abstracts.
The Poultry Research Centre of the Agricultural Research Council, September 1957
From the ARC Report.
Filtered By
- Type: Archival Object X
Additional filters:
- Subject
- Animal Genetics 10
- Poultry Research 10
- Poultry industry 3
- Scotland 3
- Animals--Diseases 1