W. L. H. (Wynfrid Laurence Henry) Duckworth

Born in Liverpool in 1870, Wynfrid Laurence Henry Duckworth studied at Jesus College, Cambridge, and went on to become a British anatomist and anthropologist. His work ranged across human anatomy, physical anthropology, and prehistory, and he wrote books including Morphology and Anthropology and Prehistoric Man.

Duckworth spent much of his career at Cambridge, where he served as a fellow of Jesus College and later became Master of the college during the Second World War, from 1940 to 1945. Contemporary notices also describe him as Emeritus Reader in Anatomy, reflecting the long academic career he built there.

His name remains closely tied to Cambridge’s anthropological collections: the Duckworth Collections were established in 1945 and named for him after he brought together the university’s collections of human remains and expanded them. That lasting connection helps explain why he is remembered not just as a writer and teacher, but as one of the figures who helped build the institutional foundations of anthropology at Cambridge.