Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Fream, William
FREAM, WILLIAM (1854–1906), writer on agriculture, born at Gloucester in 1854, was second son in the family of four sons and three daughters of John Fream, builder and contractor, by his wife Mary Grant. As a boy he was a chorister of Gloucester Cathedral, and was always devoted to music. After education in Sir Thomas Rich's Blue Coat Hospital, he entered the employment of a Gloucester corn and seed merchant; but gaining a royal exhibition at the Royal College of Science, Dublin, in May 1872, he studied there for three years, and took prizes in botany, practical chemistry, and geology, with special distinction in geology. While in Ireland he made long botanical walking tours to the wild district of Connemara and other distant parts of the country. He became an associate of the Royal College by diploma. He also matriculated in the University of London, and graduated in science with honours in chemistry at the first B.Sc. examination in 1877. From 1877 to 1879 he was professor of natural history at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. In 1879 he filled a temporary vacancy as lecturer and demonstrator in botany at Guy's Hospital Medical School. The following winter he devoted to biological—more especially zoological—study at the Royal School of Mines in London and in writing for the agricultural press.
Early in 1880 he joined Professor John Wrightson in establishing and developing the College of Agriculture at Downton. He taught natural history there and instituted a series of field classes and laboratory demonstrations.
Fream paid visits to Canada in 1884, 1888 and 1891, to examine the agricultural conditions, which he described in a series of papers. These include a charming pamphlet 'The Gates of the West' (1892); 'Across Canada: a Report on Canada and its Agricultural Resources,' written for and published by the government of Canada (Ottawa, 1885); 'Canadian Agriculture' (parts i. and ii.), 'Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society' (1885); 'The Farms and Forests of Canada, as illustrated in the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886' (Toronto, 1886); 'The Provincial Agriculture of Canada' (London, 1887). In 1888 he received from the M'Gill University of Montreal the hon. degree of LL.D.
In 1890 Eleanor Anne Ormerod [q. v. Suppl. II] chose Fream to be the first Steven lecturer in Edinburgh University on agricultural entomology; he had included the first course on the subject in Great Britain in his curriculum at Downton. He remained Steven lecturer till death. Fream, who was an unsuccessful candidate in March 1887 for the office of secretary and editor of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, was appointed in 1890 editor of the 'Journal' of the society, when it became a quarterly, relinquishing the office in 1900, when it was reduced to an annual publication.
For twelve years, from January 1894 till his death, Fream was agricultural correspondent of 'The Times,' writing very efficient weekly articles on agriculture and special annual reports on crop returns. His articles showed an intense love of country life and an intimate knowledge of wild flowers. He was a chief examiner in the principles of agriculture under the science and art department, South Kensington. In 1890 he was employed by the board of agriculture to report on agricultural education in Scotland. Apart from his writings on Canada, and his journalistic work, Fream edited exhaustively the 13th and 14th editions of 'Youatt's Complete Grazier' (1893 and 1900). His most widely read book was 'The Elements of Agriculture' (British agriculture and live stock), published for the Royal Agricultural Society of England, in 1891 (7th edit. 1902); before his death some 36,000 copies were sold. 'The Rothamsted Experiments on the Growth of Wheat, Barley, and the Mixed Herbage of Grass-land' (1888) was a valuable textbook.
Fream resided chiefly at Downton, but he had working quarters in London, and was very popular in congenial society there. He died, unmarried, at Downton on 29 May 1906, and was buried in Gloucester cemetery.
A Fream memorial fund, subscribed by leading agriculturalists, was entrusted to the board of agriculture, the income to be awarded annually as prizes under special regulations.
[The Times, 31 May 1900.]