Sir Ronald Hatton | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byWalter Stoneman, 1945 | |
| Born | Ronald George Hatton 6 July 1886 |
| Died | 11 November 1965 Benenden, Kent |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | pomologist horticulturalist |
| Known for | Malling series |
Sir Ronald George Hatton,CBE FRS (6 July 1886 – 11 November 1965) was a Britishhorticulturalist andpomologist.
Hatton was born inKilburn, London.[1][2] His father Ernest Hatton was abarrister, and his maternal grandfather William Pearson aKC; his mother Amy was the sister of thebiometricianKarl Pearson.[3] Hatton attendedBrighton College and laterExeter School, and in 1906 went up toBalliol College, Oxford, to read history; he took afourth in 1910, and hisBA in 1912.[3] He went to work as a farm labourer, and in 1913 published a book,Folk of the Furrow, written under thepen name "Christopher Holdenby".[3] From 1912 he studied agriculture at theSouth-Eastern Agricultural College atWye inKent. In 1914 the Fruit Experimental Station of the college became theEast Malling Research Station; when the director left for theFirst World War, Hatton became acting director.[4][3] He was made director in 1918.[3]
In 1914 Hatton married Hannah Rachel Rigden, who was fromAshford. In 1922 they had a son, Christopher, who became a monk.[3][5]
Hatton retired from the East Malling centre in 1949. He died on 11 November 1965 at his home inBenenden, in Kent. He was buried in the churchyard at East Malling, not far from the research station estate.[3]
Hatton was director at East Malling for thirty years. During that time he greatly expanded both its size and its range of activities. His principal achievement was the rationalisation, standardisation and classification ofrootstocks for fruit trees. His work led to the establishment first of theMalling series, and later, in collaboration with theJohn Innes Horticultural Institution, of the Malling-Merton rootstocks for apples.[3]
Hatton received theVictoria Medal of theRoyal Horticultural Society in 1930. He was made aCBE in 1934, was elected aFellow of the Royal Society in 1944, and wasknighted in 1949.[4][6]