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Profile of new Honorary Member - Ann eanally 65
PROFILE OF NEW HONORARY MEMBER
Ann Conolly
JOHN BAILEY, Biology Department, University of Leicester, LE1 7RH
Born in 1917, Ann Conolly took an MA at
Newham College Cambridge in the 1930s, at
a time when degrees were not awarded to
women. Late in her retirement, when
Cambridge made amends for this omission,
she greatly enjoyed her delayed degree
ceremony. Ann undertook postgraduate
research in quaternary botany at Cambridge
with Professor Godwin, earning particular
acknowledgement in Godwin's groundbreaking
book, the History of the British Flora in
1956. Apparently destined for a successful
career in Quaternary botany, Ann was
appointed to a lectureship at the then University
College of Leicester in January 1947.
Shortly afterwards in 1948 she joined the
BSBI, and is currently the 10 th longest standing
member of the society. Whilst she
maintained her studies of plant remains up to
her retirement, her last significant paper in the
area was in 1970. Always one to spot a
connection, however remote, Ann's interests
multiplied as time went on, expanding into
two other aspects of the British flora. The
Flora of the Lleyn Peninsula was her life's
work, commenced in the early 1950s and
continued as long as she was able to drive long
distances. In Wales Ann owns a remote
farmhouse in the middle of a field at the base
of Garn Fadryn, and many is the botanist who
has blessed Ann for the comfortable free
accommodation so generously offered in that
idyllic spot. After retirement from the university,
Ann was faced with the prospect of
emptying the office and laboratory that she
had occupied for many years. Ann never
threw anything away, and as she cheerfully
lugged away 40 year old boxes of soil samples
to the cottage, remarked that if she didn't get
around to looking at them they would be a
welcome addition to the thin soil of her Welsh
garden. Unfortunately, the temptation for just
one more recording season, her absolute
perfectionism and her many other interests,
meant the Flora never got written. The area of
her Flora also included the Island of Bardsey
and Ann was co-opted onto the council as a
botanist, and was also active in the Welsh
meetings of the society. Through the work on
the Flora Ann developed other 'spin offs', the
distribution of Lamium album in Wales, the
association of medicinal plants with ancient
habitation, and perhaps most significantly the
history and distribution of those large alien
Polygonaceous herbs - most notably Japanese
Knotweed - leading to her much cited 1977
paper. In the late 1970s the arrival of a new
technician in the Botany department led to a
long-lived and extremely successfully collaboration
on Japanese Knotweed and all its
works; happily crowned by the surprise publication
of the name Fallopia xconollyana to
fortuitously coincide with her 84th birthday.
Ann's research interests and collaborations are
closely mirrored by the titles of her AEM
exhibits. A formidable performer at Exhibition
meetings (as those unwise enough to
interrupt her whilst she was preparing her
exhibit will testify!), she produced no less than
44 exhibits in 51 years. In spite of her professional
status and connections, Ann would
genially start up a conversation with
absolutely anyone she met, often discovering
unexpected connections, and receiving new
leads in her investigations. Dressing for
comfort rather than style, for many years the
slightly stooped figure in her 'hallmark' stout
boots, ankle socks, tattered anorak, and adder
stick was instantly recognisable at BSBI field
meetings (see inside Back Cover).
Ann was reported to be very pleased about
the news of her Honorary Membership -
exclaiming that she wouldn't have to pay the
subscription any more! She is currently in
poor physical health and has been moved from
her house to a nursing home. Her new address