Ryder, Michael Lawson, 1927-2015
Dates
- Existence: 1927 - 2015
Biography
Michael Lawson Ryder was born in Leeds in 1927. His schooling at Leeds Grammar School was interrupted by his evacuation to the Yorkshire Dales during the Second World War. After completing his National Service in West Africa between 1945 and 1948, Ryder enrolled at the University of Leeds, receiving his BSc in 1951. In the same year, he began work in the biology department of the Wool Industries Research Association in Leeds, but also continued his studies at the University of Leeds, gaining his MSc in 1954 and PhD in 1956.
From 1960 to 1962 Ryder was a senior lecturer in Livestock Husbandry at the University of New England in Armidale, Australia. The following year, he returned to the UK to take up the position of Principal Scientific Officer at the Animal Breeding Research Organisation in Edinburgh. He remained at ABRO for twenty years, also becoming an Honorary lecturer at the University of Edinburgh in 1966. In 1984, he left ABRO to work for three years at the Hill Farming Research Organisation.
Ryder became known as an international expert on sheep and wool, publishing over 220 academic papers and several academic books, including 'Wool Growth' (1968) and the acclaimed 'Sheep and Man' (1983), which combined anthropology, archaeology, geography and folklore as well as biology and agriculture. The book encapsulated Ryder's lifelong interest in the domestication and spread of sheep among ancient civilizations, in the European middle ages the Islamic world. Ryder also made significant contributions to archaeozoology with his book 'Animal Bones in Archaelogy' (1961) and other papers. He continued to use his knowledge to analyse and interpret preserved ancient wool and textile remains, such as the finds from the site of Hallstatt in Austria in 2007.
After his retirement, Ryder relocated to Hampshire and continued to reseach and travel widely. He died on 6 February 2015.
Found in 10 Collections and/or Records:
A late Bronze Age find from Pyotdykes, Angus, Scotland, with associated gold, cloth, leather and wool remains, 1964
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1962 - 1964. Volume 3 of 19.
Coat colour inheritance in Soay, Orkney Shetland sheep, 1974
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1973 - 1974. Volume 8 of 19.
Development, structure and seasonal change in the fleeces of unimproved Scottish Blackface sheep from the Hebrides, 1975
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1975. Volume 9 of 19.
Report on hair and skin remains from Ashgrove Farm, Methil, Fife and other Bronze Age sites, 1966
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1965 - 1966. Volume 4 of 19.
Sheep and the Clearances in the Scottish Highlands : a biologist's view, 1968
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1967 - 1968. Volume 5 of 19.
Shetland sheep and wool, 1965 - 1966
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1965 - 1966. Volume 4 of 19.
Structure and seasonal change of the coat in Scottish wild goats, 1970
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1969 - 1970. Volume 6 of 19.
The evolution of Scottish breeds of sheep, 1968
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1967 - 1968. Volume 5 of 19.
The history of sheep in Scotland, 1967-1968
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1967 - 1968. Volume 5 of 19.
Wool fibre shedding in some Merino sheep, 1967
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1967 - 1968. Volume 5 of 19.
Additional filters:
- Subject
- Scotland 5
- Sheep 5
- Hides and Skins 3
- Seasonal variations 3
- Wool 2
- Adaptation (Biology) 1
- Angus (Scotland) 1
- Animals 1
- Animals and history 1
- Animals--Colour 1
- Archaeological sites 1
- Archaeology 1
- Australia 1
- Cattle 1
- Evolution (Biology) 1
- Fife Scotland 1
- Goats 1
- Hair 1
- Hebrides (Scotland) 1
- Highland Clearances 1
- Livestock improvement 1
- Merino sheep 1
- Orkney Scotland 1
- Sheep breeds 1
- Shetland (Scotland) 1
- Wool industry 1
- Wool--Growth 1 + ∧ less