Draft:Walter J. Le Quesne

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Walter J. Le Quesne
Walter J. Le Quesne
Born(1922-05-17)17 May 1922
St Helier, Jersey
Died25 May 2006(2006-05-25) (aged 84)
Chesham, England
Known forResearch on leafhoppers, cladistics
SpouseMargaret Diana Le Quesne (née Hinton)
ChildrenDavid Ian Le Quesne, Helen Mary Parker (née Le Quesne)
Parent(s)Walter Le Quesne, Florence Louise Le Quesne (née Hubert)
AwardsStamford Raffles Award (1984), H. H. Bloomer Award (1986)
Scientific career
FieldsEntomology, cladistics, numerical taxonomy, chemistry, genealogy

Walter John Le Quesne FRES (17 May 1922 – 25 May 2006) was a British entomologist and numerical taxonomist with contributions in entomology, cladistics, numerical taxonomy and genealogy.

Early life and education

Walter J. Le Quesne was born in St Helier on the Channel Island of Jersey on 17 May 1922, the only child of Walter Le Quesne, a motor mechanic at Le Feuvre's works in Don Street and Gordon Benett's Paragon Garages in Halkett Place, and Florence Louise Le Quesne (née Hubert). The family lived at 15, Pomona Road in St. Helier. [1][2][3][4]

Walter J. Le Quesne with his father Walter and mother Florence

Le Quesne had learned to read before he went to school, and had taught himself the dates of birth, death and ascension to the throne of all the monarchs of England by the time he attended school. From the age of six, Le Quesne attended the Brighton Road School and later St. Mark's School in St Helier, winning a scholarship to Victoria College, Jersey in 1932.[3]

In June 1933, while at Victoria College, Le Quesne obtained an Honours Certificate (Division 1) from the Royal Drawing Society, a skill used in scientific publications later in his life. In 1938, Le Quesne was awarded the King's Gold Medal for Mathematics and the Herbert and Edward Major Senior Science Prize.[3]

In 1939, his final year at Victoria College, Le Quesne obtained a distinction in Chemistry and was awarded the King Charles I Scholarship to study for an undergraduate degree in Chemistry at Jesus College, Oxford in October 1939.[3]

On 14 June 1940, Le Quesne returned from Oxford to Jersey for the University summer vacation, shortly before the start of the Occupation of Jersey by Nazi Germany. An account of the first six months of the Occupation is given in a 66-page book written by Le Quesne entitled "Under the Swastika in Jersey (The Experience of a University Student)"[5]. The original article and his notes are now held in the archives of Jersey Heritage. Le Quesne remained on the Island for the remainder of the war, before returning to Oxford University in October 1945. [3]

Questionnaire for Jesus College, Oxford complete by Walter J Le Quesne 1947

In 1947 Le Quesne was awarded a B.A. with First Class Honours in Chemistry from Oxford University. He continued his education as a post-graduate at Jesus College, Oxford, being awarded a DPhil in Organic Chemistry in 1951 for his thesis on 'The Synthesis of Polypeptides (An examination of methods of synthesis and properties of Glutamyl and Aspartyl Peptides)'.[3][6]

Walter J. Le Quesne in his D.Phil Graduation robes 1951

Biography

Unable to continue his education during the occupation of Jersey, Le Quesne found employment from November 1940 until Liberation in the States of Jersey Bacteriological Laboratory. His free time was spent surveying the insect life of the Island and he published his findings in a series of papers in the Annual Bulletins of the Société Jersiase.[7]

Le Quesne left Jersey in 1950 and began work as only the second graduate Organic Chemist to be employed at Amersham plc (formerly known as The Radiochemical Centre) in Amersham, Buckinghamshire as a Senior Scientific Officer. Le Quesne was made a fellow of the Chemical Society in March 1950.[8]

In 1956 he was promoted to Principal Scientific Office and became the Assistant Manager of the Carbon-14 Department,[3][8] where he met his wife Margaret Hinton, who was employed as a laboratory technician in the same establishment. The couple married in High Wycombe on 3 January 1959.[1][3]

While working at Amersham plc, Le Quesne regularly contributed mathematical 'posers' to the departmental staff newsletter under the pseudonym 'Daedalus'. The obituary written by Russell Bayly and published in the Amersham Link also describes Le Quesne's talent for languages, including the occasion when he managed to learn the Serbo-Croat language by studying in the evening for three months.[8]

Mathematical Poser No. 70 created by Walter J. Le Quesne

Le Quesne and his wife purchased a property in Lye Green Road, Chesham, Buckinghamshire where they raised two children David Ian (b. 1964) and Helen Mary (b. 1966).[1]

In 1982, Le Quesne retired, and in 1986 moved with the family back to Jersey, purchasing a property on the Route de Noirmont. Shortly after the move to Jersey he was diagnosed with macular degeneration, progressively losing his sight over the next few years. Margaret was eventually diagnosed as suffering from Parkinson's Disease, and the couple returned to Chesham on 18 December 2005. Le Quesne died in Stoke Mandeville Hospital after a short illness on 25 May 2006. Margaret died in Chesham on 27 October 2013.[3][8]

Research

Entomology

Walter J. Le Quesne collecting insect specimens

Le Quesne's interest in entomology started in 1939 during his first term at Oxford University. He returned home from Oxford in May 1940 for the summer vacation, but like the rest of the Islanders who chose to remain, was unable to leave the Island until liberation in May 1945. Le Quesne joined the Young Entomologist section of the Société Jersiase created by Roderick Dobson, under whose guidance Le Quesne began observing and collecting specimens of the insect life of the Island. He published his findings in a series of papers and reports in the Annual Bulletins of the Société Jersiase.[3][7]

Pages from the Lepidoptera notebook of Walter J. Le Quesne Jersey 1944–1945

Le Quesne was responsible for identifying several species of Auchenorrhyncha new to Britain and Europe, and the current list of British Species used by the Auchenorrhyncha Recording Scheme, which is based on the checklist published by W.J. Le Quesne and K.R. Payne in 1981, identifies Le Quesne as the authority responsible for describing two of the species it contains.[9] He also raised the genera Megamelodes and Acanthodelphax.[10]

In addition to over 20 entomological papers, Le Quesne also wrote four Royal Entomological Society handbooks (one co-authored with K.R. Payne) for identifying British Auchenorrhyncha, illustrated with his own diagrams to assist in identifying the species. These handbooks are now out of print, but still current, and are available online from the Royal Entomological Society website.[11][12]

Le Quesne was elected a fellow of the Royal Entomological Society in 1957, and served as Vice-President of the Society from 1974 to 1975 and from 1983 to 1985.[3]

Le Quesne's entomological collection now resides in the Hemiptera collection of the Liverpool World Museum[3]

Taxonomy

In his 1969 paper 'A method of selection of characters in numerical taxonomy' , Le Quesne proposed the use of the 'uniquely derived character' (see apomorphy) when making a selection of characters from a data-matrix of species and characters. He suggested how such characters could be identified, and gave an example using data from the genus Argodrepana (Lepidoptera, Drepanidae). In the paper, he also demonstrated the calculation of a 'coefficient of character-state randomness' (CCSR) to determine a measure of the randomness between character-states in different sets of characters and compared it with a normal deviate test.[13]

Le Quesne published a subsequent series of papers in 1972, 1974, 1977, 1979 and 1982 further developing these concepts, and a similar 'uniquely evolved character' concept based on an adaptation of Dollo's law. He tested the validity of the concepts using data from a group of Orthopteroid insects and also synthetically generated data.[14][15][16][17][18][19]

In 1989, Le Quesne published a short paper 'The Normal Deviate Test of Phylogenetic Value of a Data Matrix' in which he compared the results obtained using the CCSR and the Normal Deviate test described in his 1972 paper. His findings with synthetic random data sets concluded that the CCSR is less reliable with smaller numbers of characters whereas the Normal Deviate test confirmed the randomicity of the data in almost all cases.[20]

Also in 1989, Le Quesne published a paper 'Frequency Distributions of lengths of possible networks from a data matrix' . This paper was an analysis of the pattern of frequency distributions of the lengths of all possible networks (unrooted trees) obtained with published real data sets and randomly generated data. The stated aim of the study was to determine whether the characteristics of the frequency distribution enabled an assessment of the information content of the data-matrix. Le Quesne proposed an algorithm for the calculation of the expected mean, variance and skewness developed using random binary data with up to 13 OTUs.[21]

Genealogy

After his return to Jersey in 1986, and with the progressive deterioration of his eyesight due to macular degeneration preventing him from performing his entomological research,[3][7][8] Le Quesne turned his attention to the genealogy of the De Gruchy family of his paternal grandmother Helen (née De Gruchy). With the help of G.M. Dixon, he used parish and census records to create a De Gruchy family tree extending back to the start of the 14th Century. His book, 'The De Gruchys of Jersey', was published by the Channel Islands Family History Society in 1991.[22]

Helen Le Quesne (née De Gruchy), grandmother of Walter J. Le Quesne

This book sold out within a year, and with the help of additional information from many correspondents, a list of Amendments was published in 1993, and was followed by a much revised and expanded second edition of 'The De Gruchys of Jersey' co-authored by Le Quesne and Guy M. Dixon, which was published in 2000.[23]

In between the two editions of the De Gruchy book, Le Quesne researched the Le Quesne family tree, and in 1995 published 'The Le Quesnes of Jersey' with a family tree extending back to the middle of the 15th Century.[1] All three books were published by the Channel Islands Family History Society and are now out of print.

Published works

Selected papers

Annual Entomological Reports in Ann. Bull. Soc. Jersiaise written by Walter J. Le Quesne have been omitted from this list.

Books

Recognition

  • On 16 March 1950, Le Quesne was elected as a fellow of the Chemical Society.[8]
  • On 1 May 1957, Le Quesne was elected as a fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. Le Quesne was elected onto the Council of the Royal Entomological Society from 1972 to 1975 and from 1982 to 1983, and served as Vice President from 1974 to 1975 and from 1983 to 1985.[3]
  • In 1984, Le Quesne received the Stamford Raffles Award from the Zoological Society of London for his distinguished contribution to the taxonomy and biology of Hemiptera.[7][24][25]
  • In 1986, Le Quesne received the H. H. Bloomer Award from the Linnean Society.[26]
  • In 1994, the Executive Committee of the Société Jersiaise made Le Quesne a Membre D'Honneur at the Society's Annual General Meeting.[7]

References

  1. Le Quesne, Walter J. (1995). The Le Quesnes of Jersey. The Channel Islands Family History Society. ISBN 0-9518437-7-X.
  2. "Le Quesne". Jerripedia. 22 April 2026.
  3. "2007 - Article 2 - Obituary - Dr Walter John Le Quesne (1922-2006)". Société Jersiaise. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
  4. "Registration card of Walter John Le Quesne of 15, Pomona Road, St Helier, born 17/05/1922". Jersey Heritage. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  5. Le Quesne, Walter J. "Scrapbooks compiled by Doctor W J Le Quesne during the occupation". Jersey Heritage. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  6. Quesne, Walter John Le (1951-01-01). The synthesis of polypeptides : an examination of metods of synthesis and properties of glutamyl and aspartyl peptides (Thesis).
  7. "1994 - Article 2 - Membre d'Honneur - Doctor Walter John Le Quesne". Société Jersiaise. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
  8. "Obituary of Dr Walter J Le Quesne in The Amersham Link" (PDF). The Amersham Link. The Amersham Pensioners' Association Newsletter. Issue 18. July 2006.
  9. "Checklist of British species". ledra.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  10. "W.J. Le Quesne". Wikispecies. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  11. "Cicadellidae (Typhlocybinae) with a checklist of the British Auchenorhyncha (Hemiptera, Homoptera) - Royal Entomological Society". Royal Entomological Society. Archived from the original on 2026-01-23. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  12. "Royal Entomological Society Handbooks", Wikipedia, 2023-11-23, retrieved 2026-06-01
  13. Quesne, Walter J. Le (June 1969). "A Method of Selection of Characters in Numerical Taxonomy". Systematic Zoology. 18 (2): 201–205. doi:10.2307/2412604. JSTOR 2412604.
  14. Le Quesne, W. J. (1974-12-01). "The Uniquely Evolved Character Concept and its Cladistic Application". Systematic Biology. 23 (4): 513–517. doi:10.1093/sysbio/23.4.513. ISSN 1063-5157.
  15. Lequesne, W. J. (1972-09-01). "Further Studies Based on the Uniquely Derived Character Concept". Systematic Biology. 21 (3): 281–288. doi:10.1093/sysbio/21.3.281. ISSN 1063-5157.
  16. Le Quesne, W. J. (1977-06-01). "The Uniquely Evolved Character Concept". Systematic Biology. 26 (2): 218–220. doi:10.1093/sysbio/26.2.218. ISSN 1063-5157.
  17. Farris, J. S. (1977-06-01). "Some Further Comments on Le Quesne's Methods". Systematic Biology. 26 (2): 220–223. doi:10.1093/sysbio/26.2.220. ISSN 1063-5157.
  18. Le Quesne, W. J. (1979-03-01). "Compatibility Analysis and the Uniquely Derived Character Concept". Systematic Biology. 28 (1): 92–94. doi:10.1093/sysbio/28.1.92. ISSN 1063-5157.
  19. Quesne, Walter J. Le (March 1982). "Compatibility analysis and its applications". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 74 (3): 267–275. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1982.tb01151.x.
  20. Le Quesne, W. J. (1989-03-01). "The Normal Deviate Test of Phylogenetic Value of a Data Matrix". Systematic Biology. 38 (1): 51–54. doi:10.1093/sysbio/38.1.51. ISSN 1063-5157.
  21. Quesne, Walter J. Le (December 1989). "Frequency Distributions of Lengths of Possible Networks from a Data Matrix". Cladistics. 5 (4): 395–407. doi:10.1111/j.1096-0031.1989.tb00571.x. ISSN 0748-3007. PMID 34933483.
  22. Le Quesne, Walter J. (1991). The De Gruchys of Jersey (1st ed.). Channel Islands Family History Society. ISBN 0-9518437-1-0.
  23. Le Quesne, Walter J.; Dixon, Guy M. (2000). The De Gruchys of Jersey (2nd ed.). Channel Islands Family History Society. ISBN 1-9010381-0-6.
  24. "A Rare Specimen". The British Newspaper Archive. The Bucks Examiner. 1985-01-18.
  25. "ZSL Stamford Raffles Award Winners" (PDF). Zoological Society of London.
  26. "The Linnean" (PDF). The Linnean Society. 2 (2). 1986. p. 7.

Further reading

  • Walter has the collecting bug' - Article in The Chesham Advertiser January 30th 1985 reporting the awarding of the Stamford Raffles Award to Walter J. Le Quesne.
  • 'Walter John Le Quesne 17th May 1922 - 25th May 2006' Antenna. Bulletin of the Royal Entomological Society Volume 32(1) pp. 7–9 Obituary of Walter J. Le Quesne written for RES by Roger Long.