Galton Laboratory

The Galton Laboratory was a laboratory established for the research of eugenics, later to the study of biometry and statistics, and eventually human genetics based at University College London (UCL) in London, England. The laboratory was originally established in 1904 and existed in name until 2020.

History

The Eugenics Record Office

The Eugenics Record Office, a precursor to the Galton Laboratory, was established in 1904 by Francis Galton. In 1906 Karl Pearson took directorship of The Eugenics Record Office, eventually dissolving it. During its operation, The Eugenics Record Office employed three staffers: Dr. Edgar Schuster (Galton Research Fellow, 1905–1906), David Heron (Galton Research Fellow, 1906), and Ethel Elderton (Research Assistant and Secretary, 1905–1907). In 1907 the Office was reconstituted as the Galton Eugenics Laboratory as part of UCL, still under the direction of Karl Pearson a professor of Applied mathematics.

The Department of Applied Statistics and Eugenics

The Galton Laboratory was financed by Francis Galton. On his death in 1911, Francis Galton left his estate to the University of London to fund a permanent Chair of Eugenics filled by Karl Pearson. Pearson created the Department of Applied Statistics which combined the Biometric Laboratory and the Francis Galton Laboratory for National Eugenics, in 1913 this department was renamed the Department of Applied Stastics and Eugenics.

The department's increase in size prompted UCL to acquire or construct a new space. In 1912 Sir Herbert Bartlett offered space in the North-West front of UCL's Wilkins building. The outbreak of the First World War interrupted work and the new space was not used by the department until October 1919, with an official opening in June 1920.

Pearson was succeeded as Galton Professor by R. A. Fisher in 1934. When Fisher moved to Cambridge in 1944 the laboratory was incorporated in an enlarged Department of Eugenics, Biometry and Genetics headed by J. B. S. Haldane, the Wheldon Professor of Biometry. This reversed a previous split in 1933 following Karl Pearson's retirement.

The Department of Human Genetics and Biometry

The Galton Laboratory underwent many changes during the post-war period. Most notably this period saw another renaming of the department following negative associations of eugenics after World War II. This renaming was by Harry Harris in 1966, where it then became the Department of Human Genetics and Biometry.

The Department of Human Genetics and Biometry, including the Galton Laboratory, became part of the Department of Biology in UCL in 1996. MRC Human Biochemical Genetics Unit was established by Harris in 1962. He was Honorary Director until he went to Philadelphia in 1976, and the unit continued under the direction of David Hopkinson until its closure in October 2000. Sam Berry also held a Professorship in Genetics from 1972.

In 1967 the laboratory moved into a dedicated new building Wolfson House along with a further two Medical Research Council units: the Human Biochemical Genetics Unit, headed by Harris, and the MRC Experimental Genetics Unit, headed by Hans Grüneberg. Subsequently, on Grüneberg's retirement, the space occupied by his unit was reallocated to the newly created MRC Mammalian Development Unit, led by Anne McLaren, and the MRC Blood Group Unit, headed by Ruth Sanger, and subsequently Patricia Tippett.

In 2013 the Galton Laboratory was incorporated into UCL's then new Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment.

The Galton Laboratory and its Legacy at UCL

In 2018, then President and Provost of UCL, Professor Michael Arthur established a formal inquiry into the history of eugenics at UCL. The Inquiry was chaired by Professor Iyiola Solanke, of the University of Leeds and included sixteen members. The original inquiry set out six terms of reference.

In June 2020, UCL issued a formal apology for its history and legacy of eugenics. This followed a report and comprehensive set of recommendations given to UCL in February 2020 from its official Inquiry into the History of Eugenics.Additionally, UCL announced that the institution would be denaming spaces and buildings named after Francis Galton and Karl Pearson. The spaces included the former Galton Lecture Theatre, the Pearson Lecture Theatre, and the Pearson Building. Nine of the inquiry's original sixteen members did not agree to sign this report.

The MORE Group recommendations was an additional report compiled by nine of the inquiry's members who did not agree to sign off on the Feb 2020 report. Reasons cited by members of the MORE Group for their refusal to sign the Feb 2020 report included a need for more time to develop the narrative of the report, a deeper understanding of UCL's eugenics history and a broader set of terms that gave equal weight and understanding to all targets of eugenics.

The inquiry group published one additional group report in April 2021 co-chaired by Professor Hazel Genn and Dr. Kamna Patel. This report synthesised the original February 2020 report with the further recommendations of the MORE Group. The most recent report was released in November 2021 focused on further research undertaken by the inquiry.

Publications

The Galton Laboratory published many pieces including memoir series, lectures series, addresses, biometric series, and technical series.

• Eugenics Laboratory Lecture Series [1], a series of lectures meant for general audiences to further engage understandings of eugenics outside of academic spaces.
• Eugenics Laboratory Memoirs [2], a series of memoirs from authors including Ethel Elderton, Karl Pearson, David Heron, Amy Barrington.
• Questions of the Day and of the Fray [3], a eugenics memoir series written from 1910 to 1923.
• Annals of Eugenics, created by Karl Pearson in 1925, which continues as the Annals of Human Genetics.
• Studies in National Deterioration, a series of studies published between 1906 and 1924.

Galton Professors of Eugenics/Genetics

Originally established as the Galton Chair in National Eugenics, the post was renamed under Penrose to be the Galton Professor of Human Genetics.

• Karl Pearson 1911–1933
• Ronald Fisher 1933–1943
• Lionel Penrose 1945–1965
• Harry Harris 1965–1976
• Bette Robson 1976–1994
• Nicholas Wood 2009–2020

Workers

• Ethel Elderton: research assistant, secretary, and eventual Galton Research Scholar.
• Amy Barrington: computer of the Galton Laboratory.
• David Heron: Galton Research Fellow.
• Julia Bell: assistant, researcher.
• Alice Lee: assistant, researcher
• Adelaide Gladys Davin
• Mary Noel Karn
• Mary Hamilton Williams
• Dr. Eleanor Pairman

See also

• Eugenics in the United Kingdom
• Eugenics
• Francis Galton
• University College London

Notes

^ Possibly succeeding Grüneberg.

References

External links

• https://web.archive.org/web/20040509104147/http://www.gene.ucl.ac.uk/
• Archives of the Galton Laboratory, UCL Library Special Collections
• https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2014/jul/galton-archive-now-online
• https://archive.org/details/uclmoderngeneticscollections
• Aubert-Marson, Dominique (June 2009). "Sir Francis Galton : le fondateur de l'eugénisme" [Sir Francis Galton: the father of eugenics]. Médecine/Sciences (in French). 25 (6–7): 641–645. doi:10.1051/medsci/2009256-7641. PMID 19602363.
• Penrose, L. S. (April 1949). "The Galton laboratory: its work and aims". The Eugenics Review. 41 (1): 17–27. PMC 2972887. PMID 18120759.
• https://www.ucl.ac.uk/provost/inquiry-history-eugenics-ucl/about-inquiry
• https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2020/feb/ucl-announces-action-acknowledge-and-address-historical-links-eugenics
• https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-minds/podcasts/living-eugenics
• https://www.ucl.ac.uk/provost/sites/provost/files/ucl_history_of_eugenics_inquiry_report.pdf
• https://www.ucl.ac.uk/provost/sites/provost/files/recommendations-ucl-eugenics-inquiry-more-group-university-college-london-february-2020.pdf
• https://www.ucl.ac.uk/provost/sites/provost/files/eugenics-response-group-final-report-april-2021.pdf
• https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/professional-development/eugenics-legacy-education-project-elep-0
• https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2014/jul/galton-archive-now-online