Skip to main content

Ryder, Michael Lawson, 1927-2015

 Person

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 12 Collections and/or Records:

Coat structure and seasonal shedding in goats, June 1966

 Item
Identifier: Coll-1362/1/227
Scope and Contents

Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1965 - 1966. Volume 4 of 19.

Dates: June 1966

Seasonal changes in the coat of the cat, 1976

 Item
Identifier: Coll-1362/1/559
Scope and Contents

Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1976. Volume 10 of 19.

Dates: 1976

Seasonal coat changes in grazing Red deer (Cervus elaphus), 1977

 Item
Identifier: Coll-1362/1/601
Scope and Contents

Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1977. Volume 11 of 19.

Dates: 1977

Seasonal fleece changes in some Cheviot sheep, 1974

 Item
Identifier: Coll-1362/1/476
Scope and Contents

Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1973 - 1974. Volume 8 of 19.

Dates: 1974

Structure and seasonal change of the coat in Scottish wild goats, 1970

 Item
Identifier: Coll-1362/1/346
Scope and Contents

Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1969 - 1970. Volume 6 of 19.

Dates: 1970

Structure of and seasonal change in the coat of Red deer (Cervus elaphus), 1973

 Item
Identifier: Coll-1362/1/439
Scope and Contents

Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1973 - 1974. Volume 8 of 19.

Dates: 1973

Filtered By

  • Subject: Seasonal variations X

Additional filters:

Subject
Wool--Growth 8
Sheep 5
Goats 2
Red deer 2
Scotland 2