110 Years of Teaching Forestry at Bangor
The Start of Forestry Education in Britain
As the nineteenth century progressed Britian imported increasingly large quantities of timber and it was assumed that it could not rely indefinitely on imports from Europe and America. In 1885 a Select Committee was established to 鈥溾�onsider whether, by establishment of a forest school or otherwise, our woodlands could be rendered more renumerative.鈥� In 1887 the Select Committee recommend the establishment of schools of forestry and donated 拢250 towards the appointment of the first Professor.
The Department of Forestry in 1904
- 1891 Professor of of Agriculture and Forestry was appointed at Durham College of Science.
- 1902 Lecturerships in Forestry appointed at Oxford and Cambridge.
- 1904 Lectureships in Forestry appointed at Bangor.
- 1910 Professor of Forestry appointed at Bangor.
The establishment of a forestry post within the Department of Agriculture at Bangor followed a meeting between Lord Onslow, and Lord Kenyon who were seeking government aid to extend work to other branches other than agriculture, and due to the natural advantages of the North Wales region, particularly into forestry. Lord Onslow arranged for a grant of 拢250 (equivalent to 拢20,000 today) in April 1904 and Fraser Story was appointed as an assistant lecturer to teach forestry.
Fraser Story (1904-1919) was educated at Edinburgh University where he won several medals and came to Bangor armed with testimonials from two German professors, who spoke of his mastery of the advanced techniques employed in German forests. He was appointed Professor of Forestry in 1910. During the war he worked as an officer for the purchase of home grown timber. In 1919 he left the Department to become Education Officer in the newly formed Forestry Commission.
Photographs of the event are available from our alumni page