Space prohibits a list of Mr. Ridley’s many and varied achieve¬ 
ments, but in his broadcast on 9th December, 195*5 Sir Richard 
Winstedt has named Ridley as ‘‘the one man whose influence 
on Malayan history is second only to that of Raffles. ’ ’ He belongs 
to that great pre-specialised age of scientific natural history. His 
gargantuan contribution to our knowledge in most branches of 
natural science in Malaya and his application of it to economic 
problems and crop production is as astonishing as his longevity. 
Had Ridley commercialised his knowledge he could have made 
a fortune. Others made the fortunes because of his work, but 
his scientific studies and his discoveries were more important 
to him than riches. 
BOTANIC GARDENS LIBRARY 
SINGAPORE 
2 0 MAR 1991 
16432 
S8 • 0 0~l C58S')5>*) 
Pur . 
« 
Medal for foreign plant introduction (U.S.A.) in 1928 and the 
Linnean Medal in 1950. Earlier this year he was awarded the 
Colwyn Medal and elected to an honorary fellowship by the 
Institute of the Rubber Industry. Recently he has been elected 
an honorary member of the Malayan Nature Society and the 
Singapore Gardening Society. 
Ridley was a founder member of the Society for Psychical 
Research (London), a founder member of the Singapore Philo¬ 
sophical Society, of which he was President for five years and 
he was secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society, Straits Branch, and 
editor of its journal from 1889 to 1911. 
