Philip Herries Gregory

During childhood, as a result of severe asthma which prevented him from regular school attendance, Philip H. Gregory had an erratic early education. At age 14 his asthma moderated and he became an enthusiast of outdoor excursions, meteorology, and natural history.

Gregory graduated in 1928 from Brighton Technical College with a B.Sc. (General) degree in botany, chemistry, and zoology. Supported by a Royal Scholarship, he completed the final year of the B.Sc. (Special) degree course in botany at London's Imperial College of Science and Technology. There he did research in botany under the supervision of the plant pathologist William Brown and graduated with a Ph.D. on Fusarium disease in the genus Narcissus.{{cite book|author=Gregory, P. H.|title=Fungal Diseases of Narcissus (PhD dissertation)|publisher=University of London (Imperial College of Science and Technology)|year=1932}}{{cite web|author=Ross, Gavin|url=https://www.harpenden-history.org.uk/harpenden-history/people-2/scientists/philip-herries-gregory-f-r-s-1907-1986|title=Philip Herries Gregory F.R.S. (1907-1986)|website=Harpenden History}} and a D.I.C.

In 1931 George Herbert Pethybridge (1871–1948), a Ph.D. examiner for Gregory, recommended him to Arthur Henry Reginald Buller. The outstanding mycologist Buller had a remarkable research team{{cite journal|author=Gregory, Philip Herries|title=Spores in air|journal=Annual Review of Phytopathology|volume=15|issue=1|year=1977|pages=1–13|doi=10.1146/annurev.py.15.090177.000245 |pmid=20469982 |doi-access=}} and was searching for a medical mycologist to work with Andrew M. Davidson, a dermatologist{{cite journal|author=Lacey, John|title=Philip Herries Gregory (1907–1986)|journal=Grana|year=1986 |volume=25|issue=3|pages=159–160|doi=10.1080/00173138609427716|doi-access=free}} and lecturer at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Gregory worked with Davidson in Winnipeg for about 3 years from the end of 1931 to the end of 1934 and they coauthored several papers.{{cite journal|doi=10.1038/173230a0|title=Dispersal Processes in Fungi |year=1954 |last1=Gregory |first1=P. H. |journal=Nature |volume=173 |issue=4397 |page=230 |bibcode=1954Natur.173..230G |s2cid=4266797 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal|doi=10.1139/cjr32-090|title=Note on an Investigation into the Fluorescence of Hairs Infected by Certain Fungi |year=1932 |last1=Davidson |first1=A. M. |last2=Gregory |first2=P. H. |journal=Canadian Journal of Research |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=378–385 |bibcode=1932CJRes...7..378D }}{{cite journal|doi=10.1038/131836a0|title=Development of Fuseaux, Aleuriospores, and Spirals on detached Hairs infected by Ringworm Fungi |year=1933 |last1=Davidson |first1=A. M. |last2=Gregory |first2=P. H. |journal=Nature |volume=131 |issue=3319 |pages=836–837 |bibcode=1933Natur.131..836D |s2cid=4089856 }}{{cite journal|journal=Canadian Medical Association Journal|volume=31|issue=6|date=December 1934|pmc=1561156|pages=587–591|pmid=20319715|title=A clinical and mycological study of suppurative ringworm|author=Davidson, A. M.|author2=Gregory, P. H.|author3=Birt, A. R.}}{{cite journal|doi=10.1139/cjr34-036|title=In Situ Cultures of Dermatophytes |year=1934 |last1=Davidson |first1=A. M. |last2=Gregory |first2=P. H. |journal=Canadian Journal of Research |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=373–393 |bibcode=1934CJRes..10..373D }} In 1932 in Winnipeg, Gregory married Margaret F. Culverhouse — they became engaged three years earlier in London.

In early 1935 Philip and Margaret Gregory returned to England.

From 1935 to 1940 Gregory did research on flower bulb diseases of Narcissus and other species at Seale-Hayne College (an agricultural college near Newton Abbot).{{cite book|author=Desmond, Ray |isbn=9781000162868 |title=Dictionary of British and Irish Botantists and Horticulturalists Including plant collectors, flower painters and garden designers | page=1309 |date=23 December 2020 | publisher=CRC Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q0FZDwAAQBAJ&dq=gregory,+philip+herries,+ray+desmond&pg=PA1309}} From 1935 to 1939 he did all of his fieldwork west of Truro and mostly in the Isles of Scilly.

From 1940 to 1953 he was employed at the Rothamsted Experimental Station (now called Rothamsted Research) and worked on potato leafroll virus (PLRV) and potato virus Y (PVY). His research team established that aphids spread viral diseases of potato. During WW II he served as an air raid warden and during nights on duty he read scientific literature relevant to his research. He found a 56-page paper on dissemination of infectious diseases of plants by air currents, published by {{ill|Konstantin Mikhailovich Stepanov|ru|Степанов, Константин Михайлович}} in 1935 in Russian. Gregory thereupon learned Russian from phonograph records which he purchased with money received from selling his grandfather's gold watch. With help from his wife Margaret, he published in 1945 an important formula, which became a classic.{{cite journal|author=Gregory, P. H.|year=1945|title=The dispersion of airborne spores|journal=Transactions of the British Mycological Society|volume=28|issue=1–2 |pages=26–72|doi=10.1016/S0007-1536(45)80041-4 }} (The formula was subsequently extended by A. C. Chamberlain.) Gregory became interested in the production of penicillin by Penicillium chrysogenum Thom (then known as P. notatum Westling) and took a one-year secondment to work at Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., Biological Laboratories, Manchester.{{cite journal|doi=10.1099/00221287-2-1-70|title=The Production of Spores by Penicillium notatum |year=1948 |last1=Frank |first1=M. C. |last2=Calam |first2=C. T. |last3=Gregory |first3=P. H. |journal=Journal of General Microbiology |volume=2 |pages=70–79 |doi-access=free }} In 1948 Gregory published a multiple infection transformation, which is now often used.{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1744-7348.1948.tb07385.x|title=The Multiple-Infection Transformation |year=2008 |last1=Gregory |first1=P. H. |journal=Annals of Applied Biology |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=412–417 |pmid=18101401 }} In 1951 Gregory, in collaboration with S. Waller, introduced the genus Cryptostroma.{{cite journal |author1=Gregory, P.H. |author2=Waller, S. |year=1951 |title=Cryptostroma corticale and sooty bark disease of sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) |journal=Transactions of the British Mycological Society |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=579 |doi=10.1016/S0007-1536(51)80043-3 }}

In 1953 Gregory resigned his position as assistant director of Rothamsted's plant pathology laboratory to become a professor in the chair of botany at Imperial College London. He conducted his research at the Chelsea Physic Garden.{{cite book|author=Gay, Hannah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x4u4ikoj1M8C&pg=PA346 |page=346 |isbn=9781860948183 | title=The History of Imperial College London, 1907-2007: Higher Education and Research in Science, Technology, and Medicine | year=2007 | publisher=Imperial College Press }}

In 1958 Gregory returned to Rothamsted as head of the plant pathology department. For some years he collaborated with Professor Jack Pepys, M.D.{{cite journal|doi=10.1099/00221287-36-3-429|title=Farmer's Lung Disease: The Development of Antigens in Moulding Hay |year=1964 |last1=Gregory |first1=P. H. |last2=Festenstein |first2=G. N. |last3=Lacey |first3=M. E. |last4=Skinner |first4=F. A. |last5=Pepys |first5=J. |last6=Jenkinsxt |first6=P. A. |journal=Journal of General Microbiology |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=429–439 |pmid=14217355 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal|author=Pepys, J.|author2=Jenkins, P. A.|author3=Festenstein, G. N.|author4=Gregory, P. H.|author5=Lacey, Maureen E.|author6=Skinner, F. A.|title=Farmer's lung. Thermophilic actinomycetes as a source of "farmer's lung hay" antigen|journal=Lancet|volume=2|issue=7308|year=1963|pages=607–611|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(63)90398-2 |pmid=14054440 }}{{cite web|author=Pepys, Mark|author-link=Mark Pepys|title=Jack Pepys: A personal recollection|website=occupationalasthma.com|url=http://www.occupationalasthma.com/occupational_asthma_pageview.aspx?id=4741}} at the Institute of Diseases of the Chest (now the National Heart and Lung Institute). In 1967 Gregory retired, suffering from health problems. After a brief stay in hospital, his health improved and he became an international consultant on diseases of Theobroma cocoa.

Gregory's research on spore dispersal and disease gradients, along with the work of J. E. Van Der Plank Jr.,{{cite journal | last =Drenth | first =A | title =Fungal epidemics – does spatial structure matter? | journal =New Phytologist | volume =163 | issue =1 | pages =4–7 | publisher =Blackwells | year =2004 | doi =10.1111/j.1469-8137.2004.01116.x | pmid =33873785 | doi-access = }} provided the theoretical basis for much research on phytopathological epidemiology and forecasting, as well as sampling of spores and other airborne particles. Gregory was a leading expert on aerobiology related to fungal spores, but he also did important research on "dermatophytes, flowering bulbs, the spread of potato viruses, human allergy and cocoa diseases".{{cite journal|last1=Hirst |first1=J. M.|doi=10.1098/rsbm.1990.0007|title=Philip Herries Gregory, 24 July 1907 - 9 February 1986 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |year=1990 |volume=35 |pages=151–177 |s2cid=70399092 }} (with a full list of Gregory's publications)

London University awarded Gregory the D.Sc. degree in 1949. In 1962 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.{{CN|date=December 2022}} He was the president of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society in 1966. Gregory gave the Royal Society's Leeuwenhoek Lecture in 1970{{cite journal|doi=10.1098/rspb.1971.0043|title=The Leeuwenhoek Lecture 1970 Airborne microbes: Their significance and distribution |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences |year=1971 |volume=177 |issue=1049 |pages=469–483 |bibcode=1971RSPSB.177..469G |last1=Gregory |first1=P. H. |pmid=4396516 |s2cid=128571590 |url=https://repository.rothamsted.ac.uk/download/09102e36f232be26833ed3355e829edc470835a234301652dfbe6b0edfb30174/3609409/gregory.pdf }} and the British Mycological Society's inaugural Benefactors' Lecture in 1984.{{cite journal|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0007153684802065|doi=10.1016/S0007-1536(84)80206-5 |title=The first benefactor's lecture the fungal mycelium: An historical perspective |year=1984 |last1=Gregory |first1=P.H. |journal=Transactions of the British Mycological Society |volume=82 |pages=IN1-11 }}

He died in 1986; he was married and had a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren.

• {{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1469-185X.1935.tb00483.x|title=The Dermatophytes |year=1935 |last1=Gregory |first1=P. H. |journal=Biological Reviews |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=208–233 |s2cid=221530995 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1016/S0007-1536(39)80013-4|title=The life history of Ramularia Vallisumbrosae Cav. On Narcissus |year=1939 |last1=Gregory |first1=P.H. |journal=Transactions of the British Mycological Society |volume=23 |pages=24–IN1 }}
• {{cite journal|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0007153645800414|doi=10.1016/S0007-1536(45)80041-4 |title=The dispersion of air-borne spores |year=1945 |last1=Gregory |first1=P.H. |journal=Transactions of the British Mycological Society |volume=28 |issue=1–2 |pages=26–72 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1038/170475a0 |title=Spore Content of the Atmosphere Near the Ground |year=1952 |last1=Gregory |first1=P. H. |journal=Nature |volume=170 |issue=4325 |pages=475–477 |pmid=12993203 |bibcode=1952Natur.170..475G |s2cid=35016179 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1038/180330a0|title=Electrostatic Charges on Spores of Fungi in Air |year=1957 |last1=Gregory |first1=P. H. |journal=Nature |volume=180 |issue=4581 |page=330 |bibcode=1957Natur.180..330G |s2cid=4222739 |doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1099/00221287-17-1-135|title=The Summer Air-Spora at Rothamsted in 1952 |year=1957 |last1=Gregory |first1=P. H. |last2=Hirst |first2=J. M. |journal=Journal of General Microbiology |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=135–152 |pmid=13475682 |doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1099/00221287-20-2-328|title=Experiments on Splash Dispersal of Fungus Spores |year=1959 |last1=Gregory |first1=P. H. |last2=Guthrie |first2=E. J. |last3=Bunce |first3=M. E. |journal=Journal of General Microbiology |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=328–354 |pmid=13654728 |doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1038/1941065a0|title=Identity of Organized Elements from Meteorites |year=1962 |last1=Gregory |first1=P. H. |journal=Nature |volume=194 |issue=4833 |page=1065 |bibcode=1962Natur.194.1065G |s2cid=4219166 |doi-access=free }}
• {{cite book|author=Gregory, Philip Herries|title=Outdoor aerobiology|location=Washington, D.C.|year=1962|lccn=63000480}} {{cite book|title=1976 edition|series=Oxford Biology Readers, issue 62|year=1976 |location=London|publisher=Oxford University Press|lccn=76381264|isbn=0199141827}} (pamphlet, 16 pages, illustrated)
• {{cite journal|author=Pepys, J.|author2=Jenkins, P.A.|author3=Festenstein, G.N.|author4=Gregory, P.H.|author5=Lacey, M.E.|author6=Skinner, F.A.|year=1963|title=Farmer's lung. Thermophilic actinomycetes as a source of "farmer's lung hay" antigen|journal=Lancet|volume=2|issue=7308|pages=607–611|pmid=14054440|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(63)90398-2}}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1099/00221287-30-1-75|title=Mycological Examination of Dust from Mouldy Hay Associated with Farmer's Lung Disease |year=1963 |last1=Gregory |first1=P. H. |last2=Lacey |first2=M. E. |journal=Journal of General Microbiology |volume=30 |pages=75–88 |pmid=13950271 |s2cid=35725510 |doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1146/annurev.py.06.090168.001201|title=Interpreting Plant Disease Dispersal Gradients |year=1968 |last1=Gregory |first1=P. H. |journal=Annual Review of Phytopathology |volume=6 |pages=189–212 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1038/245336a0|title=Allergenic and Agricultural Implications of Airborne Ascospore Concentrations from a Fungus, Didymella exitialis |year=1973 |last1=Frankland |first1=A. W. |last2=Gregory |first2=P. H. |journal=Nature |volume=245 |issue=5424 |pages=336–337 |pmid=4586444 |bibcode=1973Natur.245..336F |s2cid=4218493 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1439-0434.1987.tb00452.x|title=Spore Dispersal and Plant Disease Gradients; a Comparison between two Empirical Models |year=1987 |last1=Fitt |first1=B. D. L. |last2=Gregory† |first2=P. H. |last3=Todd |first3=A. D. |last4=McCartney |first4=H. A. |last5=MacDonald |first5=O. C. |journal=Journal of Phytopathology |volume=118 |issue=3 |pages=227–242 }}

• {{cite book|title=Microbiology of the atmosphere|publisher=L. Hill in London; Interscience Publishers in New York|year=1961|author=Gregory, P. H.|lccn=62005137|postscript=; xi+251 pages}} {{cite book|title=2nd edition|year=1973|lccn=72007718|isbn=0471326712|location=New York|publisher=Wiley}}
• {{cite book|title=Airborne microbes: seventeenth symposium of the Society for General Microbiology held at the Imperial College, London, April 1967|editor=Gregory, P. H.|editor2=Monteith, J. L.|location=London|publisher=Cambridge United Press for the Society for General Microbiology|year=1967|lccn=67083406|postscript=; xii+385 pages}}
• {{cite book|title=Phytophthora disease of cocoa|editor=Gregory, P. H.|location=London|publisher=Longman|year=1974|lccn=73085686|isbn=058246658X|postscript=; xii+348 pages}}
• {{cite book|editor=Gregory, P. H.|editor2=Maddison, A. C.|title=Epidemiology of Phytophora on Cocoa in Nigeria: Final Report of the International Cocoa Black Pod Research Project|year=1981|publisher=Commonwealth Mycological Institute|location=Kew, Surrey, England|isbn=0-85198-478-9|url=http://www.antsofafrica.org/ant_species_2012/personal/research_papers/black_pod_final_report_9.pdf}}

{{botanist|P.H.Greg.|Gregory, Philip Herries}}

• {{cite web|url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw98994/Philip-Herries-Gregory|title=Philip Herries Gregory - National Portrait Gallery }}
• {{cite journal|title=Philip Herries Gregory (1906-1987)|journal=Grana|year=1986 |doi=10.1080/00173138609427716 |url=https://repository.rothamsted.ac.uk/item/85w78/philip-herries-gregory-1907-1986|last1=Lacey |first1=John |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=159–160 |doi-access=free }} (publication list)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Philip Herries}}

Category:1907 births

Category:1986 deaths

Category:British mycologists

Category:British phytopathologists

Category:Alumni of Imperial College London

Category:Rothamsted Experimental Station people

Category:Academics of Imperial College London

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society

Category:People from Exmouth