Amyan Macfadyen obituary

My father-in-law, Amyan Macfadyen, who has died aged 94, was an expert in ecology, and in particular soil ecology.

He was born in the Weald of Kent to Eric, an agriculturalist, businessman and Liberal MP, and Violet (nee Champneys), who ran the family farm at Meopham Bank, near Tonbridge, Kent, for 40 years. Amyan attended Dauntsey's school in Wiltshire and then studied zoology at Balliol College, Oxford. His academic career was punctuated by second world war service in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, where he learned many practical skills that re-emerged in the experimental equipment he used in his later scientific work.