33 Facts About Harold Maxwell-Lefroy

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy was an English entomologist.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy served as a Professor of Entomology at Imperial College London before moving to India where he took over the position of entomologist to the government of India from Lionel de Niceville.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy was later made the first Imperial Entomologist to India.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy left India after two of his children died from insect-borne diseases.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy worked on applied entomology and initiated experiments on the use of chemicals to control insects.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy was killed in an accident while experimenting with fumigants to control insects.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy grew up in the family's Itchel Manor, on an ancient site which had once been property of the Bishop of Winchester.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy finished school in 1895 and joined King's College, Cambridge, receiving a BA in the natural science tripos with first class in 1898.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy briefly served as assistant master at Seaford College, and then joined as an entomologist in Barbados from 1899.

In 1903, Harold Maxwell-Lefroy was appointed entomologist to the Government of India.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy married Kathleen on 22 January 1904 in a Catholic wedding at the Cathedral of the Holy Name, Bombay.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy convened a series of meetings on an all-India basis, to bring together all the entomologists of the country.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy was succeeded in the position of Imperial Entomologist by T Bainbrigge Fletcher.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy published Indian Insect Life, a summary of the major insects of economic importance in 1906, in association with Frank Milburn Howlett.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy took privilege leave from January 1911 for three months and then extended it by going on furlough.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy gave lectures in England and he was appointed a lecturer at the Imperial College on 1 September 1911.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy applied for resignation from his Indian government posting.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy returned to Pusa on 29 July 1912 and an offer was made to retain him but he decided instead to take up a position at the Imperial College as professor of entomology.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy's resignation was formally accepted on 15 December 1912.

At the Imperial College, Harold Maxwell-Lefroy's focus was on applied and economic entomology.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy moved to live initially in Strawberry Hill, and later Acton Lodge in Isleworth close to his workplace in South Kensington.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy published on his investigations into the control of flies and other pests, a note in the Agricultural Journal of India included a photograph of his assistants from Pusa.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy examined the issue of sheep blowflies Lucilia sericata before setting off from Sydney to England in May 1919.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy registered the company on 29 September 1924, originally under the name of Entokill but this was objected to by the Board of Trade.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy's students included Evelyn Cheesman who took up a position at the insect house in the zoo from 1919.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy had been appointed honorary curator for the insect house.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy encouraged their studies and when Cheesman set off for South Africa, he emphasized the need for anyone interested in insects to spend time in the tropics to fully appreciate the subject.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy helped in the production of several short films dealing with insects including one on wasps and another on tiger beetles in a series called Secrets of Nature.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy again had a laboratory accident in October 1925.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy had been trying out various gases to kill the larvae of houseflies.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy's assistants, including Olive Lodge, had no knowledge of the composition of the poison gas.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy wrote an unfinished memoir on the life of his father which was posthumously edited as a biography published in 2015 by Laurence Fleming.

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy published numerous journal articles and memoirs published by government departments.