BROMSGROVE-born teacher, marine biologist and academic Sir Frederick George Thomas Holliday passed peacefully away on September 5 at the age of 80, leaving behind an inspiring legacy for his grandchildren who are now following in his footsteps.
From council estate beginnings to being knighted by the Queen in 1990 ‘Fred’ was described by his family as a ‘modest and humble’ man with a ‘wicked sense of humour.’
Daughter Helen, 55, told The Standard he had a strong belief everyone, regardless of where they came from, could achieve whatever they wanted to in life if they put their mind to it and received the right encouragement.
Fred and his sister Myrtle, 78, were born in Lickey End and moved with their parents to Bromsgrove before settling in Rubery.
Myrtle said: “He used to tell people we were twins, we protected one another, if anyone picked on him i would be there and vice-versa.
“Until he died, a lot of people didn’t even know he was a professor, he never boasted about it.”
Fred was the first person in his family to win a university scholarship, subsequently turning down a place at Cambridge to study biology at Sheffield where he graduated with a first before moving to Aberdeen to work at the Marine Research Laboratory. There he met wife, Philippa, 80 before settling in Scotland.
Philippa was a student at Aberdeen and they went to the cinema on their first date.
“I can’t remember the film because I was too struck by him.
“He was very charming – we had many happy memories.”
She said he was a private man who would have been overwhelmed by everything written about him.
“Fred was very passionate about nature and the environment – all his life it was always ‘we must save this’ and ‘we must save that’.”
A doting father and grandfather, Fred passed his love for the nature and environment to his children and and five grandchildren, who are now all studying to become scientists and teachers.
Helen said: “We would go camping in the Scottish mountains and wake up surrounded by red deer.
“Every walk with dad was a biology class.”
Fred’s son Richard, 52, added: “Camping on the west and north coast of Scotland, fishing from the rocks, campfires on the beach was our childhood.
“Dad always had a pair of binoculars with him and passing strangers would often get a natural history lesson from him ‘on the fly’.
“Thanks to dad I learnt trigonometry by the time I was eight and how to locate fish using echo sounding.
“I can remember following a trout around on the loch well into the early hours of the morning and my mother being slightly annoyed because it was past my bedtime.”
The ‘little boy who spent his time wandering up Burcot Lane looking for snakes and slugs’ grew up to become a professor of Zoology at Aberdeen University and then a professor of biology at the University of Stirling where he pioneered electronic loch trout tracking devices and developed a tagging system for tracking sharks.
A defining moment of his illustrious career came in 1973 when he received a CBE for his dedication to research and education.
Fred’s academic career cemented countless friendships with the students he taught from all over the world at The University of Stirling and then as vice-chancellor and warden at the University of Durham.
His passion for preserving nature never waned and he was also able to protect wildlife in two other roles he undertook – as chairman of Northumbrian Water and as president of the British Trust for Ornithology, which he held until 2001.
His work saw him become friends with David Attenborough and together they worked on several projects.
Richard said one of his fondest memories was his dad receiving a very funny letter from an amused David Attenborough after the legendary broadcaster landed his hot air balloon on the farm where Philippa was born.
Fred also published a book called ‘The Wildlife of Scotland’ which featured contributions from numerous eminent scientists and experts.
Fred and Philippa were due to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary next year and he was two weeks off his 81st birthday when he passed away.
Helen added: “He was a wonderful father and a real inspiration to the whole family.
“He always still referred to death as his next adventure in life.”
An extract of Fred’s favourite poem – A Shropshire Lad by Bromsgrove poet AE Housman – was read at Fred’s funeral.
