Collectors
The George F. Ledingham Herbarium houses collections acquired as other herbaria closed, as trades, items donated by individuals, and those purchased from key collectors. However, a large number of the specimens are from the efforts of people who worked alongside George on collecting trips. Below are some of the collectors mentioned in George’s notebooks. More will be added as time allows.
Margaret Belcher
(1920 - 2003)
Margaret Belcher was born in Dilke, Saskatchewan. After obtaining an MA from the University of Toronto, she taught high school in Rosetown, Saskatchewan, then was a professor of French at Regina College in 1944. Margaret was heavily involved with the Saskatchewan Natural History Society, of which she was named a fellow. Read more about her life here at the following sites: https://www.uregina.ca/library/services/archives/collections/faculty-staff/belcher%20.html, The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan | Details (uregina.ca) and bluejay613art10.pdf
Bernard “Bernie” de Vries
Bernard immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands in 1948. He earned an MSc from the U of Manitoba in 1963, and a BEd from the U of Regina in 1969. He published “Getting to Know Saskatchewan Lichens” in 2012. The Ledingham Herbarium purchased Bernie’s personal collection of lichens and vascular plants. You can read more about Bernard de Vries’ life here: Bernard DE VRIES | Obituary | Regina Leader-Post (remembering.ca)
Claude E. Garton
(February 26, 1907 - January 1, 1996)
Claude Garton taught as an elementary school teacher in Thunder Bay from 1928 until his retirement in 1967. At this time, he donated his ~10, 000 specimen collection to Lakehead University’s Herbarium, where he became curator. To learn more about Claude, read about him at these three sites: http://www.northernontarioflora.ca/biography.cfm v.110 (1996) The Canadian field-naturalist - Biodiversity Heritage Library (biodiversitylibrary.org) and Remembering Claude E. Garton | Lakehead University
Vernon Lee Harms
(May 31, 1930 - December 25, 2022)
Vernon was born in Newton, Kansas and pursued a PhD in Botany, which he earned from the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1963. He was a faculty member at the University of Alaska, then Northwestern Louisiana State University before joining the University of Saskatoon at the level of Full Professor in 1969. Read more about his life here: Vernon Lee Harms | Obituary | Sharing Memories (arbormemorial.ca)
John Hudson
(July 27, 1923 - April 23, 2010)
John was born in Parkbeg, SK. He earned his graduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Saskatchewan, and worked as a ceramics engineer for the Saskatchewan Research Council. John had a deep appreciation for plants, and collected extensively, becoming one of Saskatchewan’s top botanists. Learn more about him on page four of Native Plant News and here: John Hudson Obituary (2010) - Legacy Remembers
Gweneth “Gwen” Jones
(December 29, 1938 – February 26, 2019)
Gwen attended the U of Regina, and became a Laboratory Instructor in University’s Department of Biology. George has many notes of field trips which Gwen joined; a number of the specimens in the Herbarium list her as the collector. You can read more about Jones’ life here: Gweneth JONES | Obituary | Regina Leader-Post (remembering.ca)
John Stronski
(July 24, 1937 - October 20, 2020)
John was born in Rose Valley, SK. An excellent biologist, he was employed at the University of Saskatoon Science Department before joining the University of Regina, where he worked for 40 years. John was an avid nature photographer, and a devoted family man. To read more about his life, read: John Stronski Obituary - Regina, SK (dignitymemorial.com)