Education
Stanley Graham Birks was born in Burnage in 1888. Records show that at the time of Graham’s third birthday (he used the second of his forenames), his father was an unemployed grey cloth merchant. At that time, the family were living on Mauldeth Road, a short distance from where the hall is now located, and he was attending Hulme Grammar School. By the 1911 census, at the age of 23, his occupation was given as a student. He graduated that year with an honours degree in Geology.
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By 1912, Graham had become a resident of St Anselm's Hostel, as it was then, and he was to be awarded a Master of Science degree for his research on fossil fish. The award came at the same time his future wife Hilda Brade received her own MSc. Their stories are closely linked from this point on. Hilda had graduated in Botany and they had both taken subsidiary Zoology. After completing her own MSc, Hilda went on to take a degree in Medicine and became medical officer for maternity and child welfare in Salford.
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Along with his scientific studies, Graham had been reading theology. In July 1914, he was ordained as a deacon and appointed to Holy Trinity, Darwen.
Career
In 1916, Graham and Hilda jointly published their work ‘Notes on Myriapoda,’ a millipede new to science at the time. Having worked together for four years, they married, joining their surnames to become Brade-Birks. It is feasible that Graham and Hilda might have been the first of many Slems-Langdale marriages that have happened over the years.
In 1919, Graham began a lectureship at South Eastern Agricultural College in Wye, Kent, a connection with the college that was to last nearly 30 years. During his time at the college, he was made General Editor of the English Universities Press and the editor of the Kent County Journal.
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Graham was made DSc in Zoology by the University of London in 1924 and the focus of his study was around the economic status of Myriapoda. Together, Graham and Hilda published 23 papers under their joint authorship and a further 12 papers were authored by Graham alone. The final note, published in 1939, was a biographical checklist of the entire British fauna. Their work noted eight species which were new to Britain, of which three were new to science.
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Throughout this time, Graham continued to be active within the church, and in addition to his lectureship at Wye, he became vicar of Godmersham. He was later also given the neighbouring parish of Crundale in Kent. In 1944, he was made Rural Dean of West Bridge, Canterbury and later Protector in the Convocation of Canterbury and the Convocation of York.
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Graham’s interests were not limited to nature and the church. He had a number of other active interests. He was described as a recognised authority on soil science, archaeology, local history and canon law. He also edited 16 of the “Teach Yourself” series and wrote two volumes: ‘Good Soil’ and ‘Archaeology’.
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Throughout this time, Graham continued to be active within the church, and in addition to his lectureship at Wye, he became vicar of Godmersham. He was later also given the neighbouring parish of Crundale in Kent. In 1944, he was made Rural Dean of West Bridge, Canterbury and later Protector in the Convocation of Canterbury and the Convocation of York.
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Graham’s interests were not limited to nature and the church. He had a number of other active interests. He was described as a recognised authority on soil science, archaeology, local history and canon law. He also edited 16 of the “Teach Yourself” series and wrote two volumes: ‘Good Soil’ and ‘Archaeology’.
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"XL.—Notes on Myriapoda.—XXIV. Preliminary note on a millipede new to science." The Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology 6, 364–365. Brade-Birks, S. Graham, 1920.
“Soil science is my technical subject, and archaeology my hobby, and yet you know, you get more kudos from writing a popular book than you will for writing a scientific one, however brilliant it is.”
Graham Brade-Birks
Later Life
As a character, he was described as quiet, scholarly and unassuming. His work for archaeology won him, in 1954, the coveted honour of a fellowship of the Society of Antiquities, the leading archaeological society in the country.
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Graham retired in 1948 from Wye South East Agricultural College, but remained active for many years after with his genealogical research. He continued to author articles and engage with his many correspondents.
In his 84th year, he presided over the Second International Congress of Myriapodology in Manchester. He welcomed delegates in three languages and took part in all proceedings. It is also worth mentioning that he was an active member of the St Anselm Hall Association until his death.
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Graham died at a nursing home at Hindhead, Surrey, on 28th January 1982 at the age of 95, a few weeks before Hilda, his wife of 65 years. As a mark of the esteem his colleagues had for him, his full-length portrait hung on the main stairway of the Wye College until it closed in 2010.
