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Sir John Houghton Interviewed by Paul Merchant

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Sir John Houghton Interviewed by Paul Merchant NATIONAL LIFE STORIES AN ORAL HISTORY OF BRITISH SCIENCE Professor Sir John Houghton Interviewed by Dr Paul Merchant C1379/45 IMPORTANT Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this transcript, however no transcript is an exact translation of the spoken word, and this document is intended to be a guide to the original recording, not replace it. Should you find any errors please inform the Oral History curators. Please refer to the Oral History curators at the British Library prior to any publication or broadcast from this document. Oral History The British Library 96 Euston Road London NW1 2DB +44 (0)20 7412 7404 [email protected] The British Library National Life Stories Interview Summary Sheet Title Page Ref no: C1379/45 Collection title: An Oral History of British Science Interviewee’s Houghton Title: Professor/Sir surname: Interviewee’s John Sex: Male forename: Occupation: Atmospheric Date and place of 30/12/1931; physicist birth: Dyserth, Wales Mother’s occupation: / Father’s occupation: History teacher Dates of recording, Compact flash cards used, tracks (from – to): 7/3/11 (track 1-3); 8/3/11 (track 4-6); 7/6/11 (track 7-10); 8/6/11 (track 11-18). Location of Interviewee’s home, Aberdovey, Wales interview: Name of interviewer: Dr Paul Merchant Type of recorder: Marantz PMD661 Recording format : 661: WAV 24 bit 48kHz Total no. of tracks: 18 Mono or Stereo: Stereo Total Duration: 18:25:37 Additional material: photocopy of transcript if 1995 IPCC meeting Copyright/ © The British Library Clearance: No access restrictions Interviewer’s comments: John Houghton Page 1 C1379/45 Track 1 Track 1 Could you start by telling me when and where you were born, please? Yes. I was born on 30th December 1931. I was born in a place called Dyserth, which is in Wales, North Wales, quite near Rhyl, which inland from Rhyl is something called Dyserth Mountain, or the hill behind Dyserth. It was on the slopes of that hill – hill I suppose that the village of Dyserth lies, it’s a pretty part of the world. And whether I was – I was born at home I presume, but I don’t – can’t give you much detail about that. [00:43] Thank you. And we’ll come back to the sort of places of your childhood, but could you tell me something about your – or anything you know about your mother’s life. Yes. Well, my mother, her maiden name was Yarwood, and she was – she came from – well, she was born in Manchester, born in Eccles I think, in Manchester, in 1902. Her parents were, erm … well, he was a – in early life he was a carpenter actually, or cabinetmaker I think would be more correct, made furniture, that sort of thing. In later life he had a coal merchants’ business, taking coal round to people, customers. There was somebody in their family who died and left this business, and Frank Yarwood that was his name, felt an obligation really to take it on, so he had this business in – where I knew them, when I knew my mother’s parents, they lived in Lymm in Cheshire, in the country. He also kept, you know, had sheds full of chickens, he had a little chicken farm, a very small chicken farm. And his wife, my grandmother, came from Bradley Hall, she was brought up in rather a grandish hall in Cheshire, not too far from Lymm where they lived. And, erm, she was a toff, lovely lady, I loved her, liked them both very much. They met at a – they met in a strict Baptist chapel in the area of – in that part of the world. And when they were married, I can’t give you all the dates, but it’s – I could look up the dates of course of when they were born, but I don’t know them off the top of my head. John Houghton Page 2 C1379/45 Track 1 That’s okay. But I did know her parents reasonable well. And my mother was, er – became a schoolteacher, taught mathematics for a year or two before she married my father, when she became a housewife [laughs]. [03:34] Thank you. And anything you know of your father’s life, either what he told you at the time, or that you’ve learned since. Yes, well he was born in 1899, so he was a Victorian by birth, and also by style [laughs]. He – his father, I don’t know too much about my father’s family because we didn’t see very much of them. His father lived in – but he was born in Salford in Manchester. His father was a clerk I think in an office. He, erm, he died when he was 96, he had three wives I think, that’s right. First one died in 1935, so I never knew her. And then he married twice again after that, and I didn’t really know them very well either, so I can’t say a great deal about them. He was a, erm … a very mean man, very, you know, upright sort of person. He was a Methodist; my father was brought up as a Methodist. [05:11] And my father – I’m not quite sure, oh he met, that’s right, he met my mother because my mother was teaching at a school and he became the school clerk. Hmm, so he was, what, three or four years older than she was, and he began to – rather an awkward man I think in his youth. He got to know my mother through, you know, seeing him in school, and quite how he – and she was in her teens of course. And somehow he got invited to my mother’s home, and used to have long discussions with my mother’s father, particularly on theological issues [laughs]. And he was I suppose – he became I think a Methodist local preacher, did some preaching for the Methodist, but as I say he was a Christian man with I suppose rather liberal theology in those days. But having met my mother’s father, he became much more conservative in his John Houghton Page 3 C1379/45 Track 1 theological views. My father’s mother – my mother’s father managed to persuade him to change some of his beliefs, and, erm, so he became a strict Baptist too, like my mother. The chapel to which they went in was in the country near Lymm, in Cheshire, and we visited them sometimes, I can remember going to that chapel sometimes. It was old style, they sang very slowly I remember. I learnt the piano a little when I was young, and there was an old organ that you pumped with your feet, you know, and they very often didn’t have anybody to play it, so when I was there I had to try and play this. I can remember the first time it ever happened, I played at a normal rate, and got through the first line and they’d hardly got over the first word or two [laughs]. I had to slow down a lot. But it was an interesting place, but very … well old style, both in its Christianity, and of course in its – as far as the world was concerned, the world had gone by quite a long way for most of the people in that chapel. But they were good people. [08:28] That was where my, er, my grandmother actually became a Christian in that chapel. There’s a story about how that happened, well I’m not quite sure how it happened, but she was a very, you know, determined youngster, and her family – and she started to go to that chapel for some reason, I don’t know what it was. But she met my – her husband there of course, my grandfather, and they – and she became a Christian there. Now it’s quite hard to become a Christian as a strict Baptist because you were not supposed to really be quite sure about whether you were a Christian or not, you know. Were you one of the elect or not? And people were encouraged to doubt whether they really belonged you see, had, whether they’d really been elected or not, which is a strange – a sad, rather a sad state of affairs for people who couldn’t be sure about their faith, because faith is something you want to be really sure about. And she’d been brought up that way, but then she asked to be baptised, and they didn’t baptise I don’t think many people, because they didn’t have too many people joining them. And she felt strongly about her faith, but then was worried about taking this step in case she wasn’t actually one of the elect. So, erm, so she said to God, because there was a particular verse that came to her, and I don’t know what it was from the Bible which she read, she said, ‘Please will the – please may the preacher of my baptism preach from that verse.’ And she felt so strongly about it she felt if he didn’t preach from John Houghton Page 4 C1379/45 Track 1 that verse then she couldn’t possibly be baptised. So the day arrived, and the preacher announced this text, and it was the wrong one, it wasn’t right at all. So she said, you know, she couldn’t – she was determined, she couldn’t possibly go through with it.
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