William Riddet

William Riddet

He had an original, fertile mind. He bubbled over with ideas. He was enthusiastic, stimulating. A 15-minute discussion with Professor Riddet would leave a staff member with enough suggestions for work for the next six months.

Ian Campbell, William Riddet of Massey, Massey University, 1966, p7

He was known as ‘the Wee Mon’, a nickname reflecting his Scottish roots and his short stature. But William Riddet had a big impact on New Zealand’s agricultural life.

Born in Ayrshire, Scotland, Riddet grew up on a farm where, even as a schoolboy, he was expected to muck in. After leaving school he studied for a year at the West of Scotland Agricultural College before war service put his study on hold. When he returned, he was, Ian Campbell writes, ‘a brilliant student. Dedicated to his work, with an eager, questing mind and a retentive memory, he was outstanding among the students of his group.’

Riddet worked in dairying and education in Scotland before being appointed to the chair of agriculture at Auckland University College in 1925 at the age of 29.

But, at the time, agricultural education in the tertiary sector was in turmoil. Victoria University College’s professor of agriculture Geoffrey Peren told a Royal Commission that having two North Island schools of agriculture would condemn each to ‘anaemic mediocrity’.

So Riddet and Peren joined forces and, in 1927, the Massey Agricultural College Act established a new school. Riddet was appointed to the foundation chair in agriculture and was also appointed director of the Dairy Research Institute.

Riddet established degree courses, to train teachers and researchers, and diploma courses in general agriculture and dairy farming. He insisted on students learning basic science and on the teaching of agriculture as an integrated whole, not just as a collection of science subjects. He was also adamant that students have practical farming or factory experience as part of their training.

Under his leadership, the Massey farms were used to test new practices and equipment. Artificial breeding, overhead irrigation, the herringbone shed and the electric fence were all trialed. Within the dairying industry, Riddet helped promote research as a way of solving problems.

The Massey dairy farms were Riddet’s passion. He loved nothing more than being able to pull herd-test folders from his satchel for a discussion on Massey cows, what might be affecting production, and ideas for experimental work with the herds. He also, apparently, knew the names and pedigrees of almost all the cows in the Massey herd.

The professor’s name lives on in the Riddet Centre, a research centre established at Massey University in 2003.

By Kim Griggs

Medals and awards

Gold Medal of the British Society of Dairy Technology 1953, CBE 1954

Further reading

William Riddet biography – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography website

Ian Campbell, William Riddet of Massey, Massey University, 1966;

Tom Brooking, Massey: its early years, Massey Alumni Association, 1977

Image courtesy of Massey University

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