Dr Henry Disney’s Regaining Life’s Winding Trail is, in the author’s own words, ‘a rambling set of anecdotes and poetic reflections on (his) unusual life’. He begins life as a shy child relishing in nature’s gifts. After a successful stint in the army, Disney pursues his love of natural history to become a research entomologist. His work takes him to places around the world, young family and loving wife in tow. He becomes a respected and accomplished scientist with a vast number of publications. He undertakes his work with such zeal that he surely earns the title ‘the king of scuttle flies’.Where others fail, Disney’s scientific knowledge and strong faith live harmoniously side by side. Disney’s use of poetry and the collection of his poems included in this autobiographical musing bridge the supposed gulf between science and the arts.
Henry Disney was born in 1938 and was separated from his parents for part of the War; while his wife-to-be had to be dug from the remains of her home following a bombing raid. After the War he was partly brought up in the Sudan, he served on active service in Cyprus during his National service in 1958, and he carried out research in the rain forests of Belize and Cameroon, as well as on a three month expedition to Indonesia. He was in charge of a Field Centre and National Nature Reserve in Yorkshire before moving in 1984 to become a researcher at the University of Cambridge. He has been author or co-author of about 600 scientific publications, with his co-authors being from more than 50 countries across the world. He has served on various public bodies as well as being a churchwarden. He has previously published ten collections of poetry, many reflecting on his position as a scientist and ‘Lapsed atheist'.
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There will be few entomologists who have not heard of or known Henry Disney, one of the undisputed experts on the taxonomy and natural history of scuttle flies (Phoridae). Henry, an honorary member of the Freshwater Biological Association, has worked on these flies for more than 40 years. Henry’s autobiography describing these exploits is thickly studded with many amusing poems and describes his life since his early years.
Born in 1938 he saw active service in Cyprus during the 1958 troubles although his interest in natural history began well before that. Whilst attending Marlborough College he was reprimanded for losing a ball during a cricket match being distracted by a spider carrying an egg case. He also developed an interest in freshwater biology and published an article aged 20 on the snails of the Marlborough Water Meadows. He later went up to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge where he read Natural Sciences. Since then he has travelled extensively and spent much of his career with the Field Studies Council, most notably at Malham Tarn Field Centre in the Yorkshire Dales from 1971-84 where he recorded many amusing incidents. It was here that his work on the Diptera really flourished with the publication of numerous taxonomic works, collaborating with entomologists worldwide and including FBA SP number 56, covering meniscus and trickle midges. Henry managed to raise the Phoridae from comparative obscurity into a group of insects that is now very well-known and far better understood. He studied blackflies in West Africa, vectors of several serious diseases and discovered that they fed on the blood of birds as well as that of primates. He also went on the now celebrated Sulawesi Expedition of 1985 commemorating the pioneering work of Wallace in the 19th Century publishing several papers on his finds.
Despite failing eyesight after retirement, Henry continues his research activities at Cambridge, regularly describing new species if phorids. These have turned up in surprising places such as the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
Henry is a family man with deeply religious convictions. He pays great homage to his late wife Audrey and children Adrian, Rachel and Trudia who supported him unfailingly throughout his very active and sometimes turbulent life. His autobiography makes fascinating reading and would provide a valuable source of information for any would-be entomologist with the desire to travel and discover the world’s great diversity of insects.
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