Francis Gerald William Knowles, 9 March 1915 - 13 July 1974

Abstract Sir Francis G. W. Knowles, sixth Baronet, was born in Canada on 9 March 1915, the son of Sir Francis Howe Seymour Knowles, prehistorian and pioneer of physical anthropology, and Kathleen Constance Avering, daughter of William Lennon. He was educated at Radley and at Oriel College, Oxford, graduating B.A. in 1936 in the Honours School of Zoology, M.A. and D.Phil. in 1939, and D.Sc. in 1963. His adoption of a scientific career conformed to a pattern that had been maintained in the main line of his family for some 200 years, those with Francis as their first name having become scientists and those with Charles admirals. There was a family link with Sir Francis Knollys, who was related by marriage to Queen Elizabeth I, but Knowles himself was directly descended from Charles, fourth Earl of Banbury. The first Baronet, Admiral Sir Charles Knowles, was Governor of Jamaica. The second, Admiral Sir Henry Knowles, fought under Nelson at the battle of Cape St Vincent. An early connection with the Royal Society was provided by John Knowles (1781-1841), biographer of Henry Fuseli, and one of the original members of the Athenaeum, who was elected into the Fellowship in 1821 for his scientific work, which included researches into the cause of dry-rot in sailing ships. The third Baronet, Sir Francis Charles Knowles (1802-92), was elected F.R.S. in 1830. He was a mathematician who later gained the Telford prize ‘for an intricate mathematical problem’.