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 7 Collections and/or Records:
A note on the effect of changes in daylength on the seasonal wool growth cycle in Soay sheep, 1976
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1976. Volume 10 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.
Seasonal fleece changes in some Cheviot sheep, 1974
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1973 - 1974. Volume 8 of 19.
Seasonal fleece changes in two selection lines of Scottish Blackface sheep during their lifetime on the hill, 1982
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1982. Volume 16 of 19.
The development and structure of, and seasonal change in, the coat of some Wiltshire sheep, November 1969
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1969 - 1970. Volume 6 of 19.
Wool fibre shedding and seasonal variation in wool growth, 1965
Located in A.B.R.O. Reprints 1965 - 1966. Volume 4 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
- Wool--Growth 6
- Sheep 5
- Australia 1
- Hebrides (Scotland) 1
- Merino sheep 1