Andrew Agnew: A tribute

Andrew David Quentin Agnew (1929-2024), who taught botany in Aberystwyth from 1969-1996, passed away at home in Eglwys Fach on 27th May. Born in Allahabad (now Prayagraj) India, where his father was a Colonel in the Indian Army, he was a descendant of the Agnew clan of Locknaw Castle, Galloway. Andrew was educated at Trinity College, Glenalmond, and later graduated his BCs in Botany from Edinburgh University.

This was followed by a PhD on the ecology of the soft rush (Juncus effusus) at Bangor, under the supervision of Paul Richards, and where he met and married a fellow student Shirley Smithson, an accomplished bryologist in her own right. Their wedding party in August 1957, shortly after they had both graduated from their PhDs, took place in the railway tunnel at Aberglaslyn, an early indication of Andrew’s endearing eccentricity.

Later that year, Andrew was appointed to a British Council-funded position in the Department of Botany at the University of Baghdad, where he taught botany and studied the ecology of the oak forests of Gara Mountain in northern Iraq, describing a new species of Pelargonium (P. quercetorum) from this habitat. Shirley also continued her bryological research, later publishing a moss flora of Iraq and also describing new species of Grimmia. Field work in the Middle East was risky, as attested to by his diary entry on May 2 1962, having 'strayed' across the border into Iran: "Got shot up at Mandali and temporarily locked up by Iranians on disputed border. Good botany!”

They continued to work in Baghdad following the birth in 1960 of their first son David, but the family was forced to leave suddenly following the Ramadan Revolution in 1963 and the rise to power of the Ba'athist regime. Andrew was then appointed to a lectureship at the University of Nairobi, allowing him to continue his research on montane plant communities, ultimately leading to his best known publication, Upland Kenya Wild Flowers, which ran to three editions (1974, 1994, 2013). More than 3000 plant species are recorded, and it remains a standard text.

Two more sons, Peter and Robin were born whilst they were still working in Kenya, and to the later good fortune of Aberystwyth University, the family became close friends of Ellis and Ruth Griffiths, Ellis then being on sabbatical leave from the Agricultural Botany department at Aberystwyth to study coffee berry disease. In 1969 Ellis and Ruth notified Andrew of a lectureship in Botany at Aberystwyth, to which he was appointed later that year.

Whilst at Aberystwyth, Andrew continued to publish scholarly papers on the ecology of diverse vegetation systems, including sand-dune, mire, fen carr, forest, upland and arid habitats of Britain, Kenya and New Zealand. He was a highly original and innovative experimentalist, and from the 1970’s studied the effects humans on natural habitats long before this became a topical issue. For instance, he investigated the polluting effect of dog faeces in urban parks, the effect of trampling at Cors Fochno (with Fred Slater) and at the Ynyslas sand-dunes. He also initiated a project on the diet and behaviour of the Greenland White-fronted Goose via his PhD student Tony Fox; the same research continues at DLS to the present day via Peter Dennis and colleagues, with Tony (now at Åarhus, Denmark) still involved.

Andrew was an inspiring lecturer to generations of undergraduates; he particularly valued the importance of fieldwork and field courses to communicate the concepts of plant community ecology. In the early 1970's he initiated field courses to the karstic habitats of the Burren in western Ireland and to the Picos de Europa in northern Spain, the latter famously involving a long ferry journey, camping and a constant diet of muesli (to minimise costs). Both courses continued long beyond his retirement and for many of the hundreds of students who studied at Aberystwyth, an "Agnew" field course was the highlight of the whole degree.

Andrew was instrumental in establishing the Environmental Science degree scheme, taught jointly with DGES, which continues to the present day and maintains strong links between DLS and DGES.

Andrew’s retirement, as Senior Lecturer, in 1996 allowed him to devote more time to caring for Shirley whose health was failing. However, he continued as Curator of the Aberystwyth Herbarium <ABS>, and oversaw its cataloguing and specimen digitisation. He also participated in the Burren fieldcourses of 2004/5, where the students were enthralled not only by his knowledge of Burren habitats from 30 years earlier, but also his singing and footballing skills.

He also continued his role as a leading member of the Ceredigion Local Group of the Wildlife Trust of West and South Wales, serving as chair for many years. An example of his eccentricity and, to those who did not know him well, often alarming sense of humour, is instanced by what he said at a Trust meeting when he announced his retirement as chairman: “I was getting deaf, and could no longer hear what the committee members were saying, so I got a hearing aid and then realised that what they were saying was nonsense, so I decided it was time to retire.”

Retirement also permitted him to pursue the writing of his magnum opus, The Nature of Plant Communities, with his long-term collaborator and Aberystwyth alumnus Bastow Wilson. Following his death in 2015, Bastow's former PhD student Stephen Roxburgh stepped into the breach to ensure that the book was finally published in 2019, shortly before Andrew's 90^th birthday.

Despite his devastation at Shirley's death in 2002, Andrew remained very active both mentally and physically into his nineties. His later years were hugely enhanced by marriage to Janie in 2007, whom he met through a shared interest in Scottish country dancing. They warmly encouraged visitors to their new home in Eglwys Fach, conveniently located for walks in the nearby lanes and next to a bus stop that they frequently used for trips to town.

Andrew died at the age of 94 at Eglwys Fach. The funeral service at St Michael's Church, Eglwys Fach on 12th June, and the later gathering at the nearby Iron Room, was very well attended, providing an opportunity for his many friends, former students and extended family to reminisce over his memorable personality, and his varied and influential career.

Two other tributes to Andrew have also been published, one for the West Wales Wildlife Trust and one by a group of former students and colleagues, for the British Ecological Society.

Gareth Griffith, Henry Lamb and Ian Scott (DLS/DGES), with kind assistance from David Agnew, Ruth Griffiths, John Hedger, Sue Fowler and Lizzie Wilberforce.