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Went to the University of Exeter to take an Honours Degree in Botany. In 1961, she moved to the botany department at the University of Leeds to become a research student of Professor Irene Manton. Anne's area of research was in two genera: Asplenium and Polystichum. She investigated the relationship between diploid taxa and the evolution of polyploids.

Many aspects of her work can be found in her 1966 dissertation, "Some cyto-taxonomic problems in the fern genera Asplenium and Polystichum," which, unfortunately, was never published and therefore only exists in a few copies. She was then awarded a research fellowship to spend two years in Japan from 1967 to 1969 to continue her work on ferns. She recalled this as a formative experience in her life. It allowed her to travel extensively in the East and establish a broad circle of professional and personal friendships.

Anne had barely returned from Japan when she developed systemic sclerosis, a rare and debilitating disease that proved difficult to diagnose and treat. This illness increasingly restricted her and made it less and less possible for her to pursue scientific work. Despite the great difficulties arising from her illness, she continued to expand her research, though the practical fern work proved increasingly difficult. Eventually, her illness began to affect her heart, and she eventually succumbed to the disease.

The Anne Sleep Award (The Linnean Society), Established by Mrs. Ivy Sleep in fulfilment of the wishes of her daughter, Dr Anne Sleep FLS. Awards of up to £3,000 are made at (odd-numbered) two year intervals, to assist one or more scholars to carry out biological research in the Middle or Far East, or similarly for scholars from the Middle or Far East to pursue their own biological research in the UK.

Mrs. Ivy Sleep, died in 1996 and left the sum of £120000 to the Linnean Society of London in fulfilment of her daughter’s wishes.

Professor Irene Manton FRS, P-PLS, FRMS, BA, PhD, ScD. Hon. DSc.

Attended Girton College, Cambridge in 1923, which she left as it was unwelcoming to women. Moved on to study at Gustaf Otto Rosenberg in Stockholm. Became a lecturer at teh University of Manchester in 1928. Received her PhD in 1930, with her thesis on Cruciferae.

Manton spent most of her career at the University of Leeds, where she was a Professor of Botany from 1946 until she became Professor Emeritus in 1969. Her work focused on ferns and algae, specifically hybridisation, polyploidy, and apomixis. She also examined chromosomes and evolution.

Irene wrote more that 170 scientific papers, one book (Problems of cytology and evolution in pteridophyta, 1950) and many general articles.

She taught Professor Mary Gibby as an undergraduate at the University of Leeds.

As a woman she set several records including being the first female professor and first female head of a department at Leeds University. She was the first (and so far only) woman president of The Linnean Society of London (1973-1976). Also she and her sister Sidnie are the only sisters as of 2004 to be elected Fellows of the Royal Society.

In 1990, The Linnean Society established the Irene Manton Prize. It was created for best doctoral thesis in botany.

From the Linnean Society:
"Irene was a ‘woman of her time’. Her life (1904–1988) spanned the better part of the
twentieth century. This period was momentous for many reasons. Firstly, there was a major
change in the role of women within the professions in general, and science in particular.
Secondly, with the advent of electron microscopy, a completely new subject was born and
Irene was present at its birth. Thirdly, science was in the process of changing from being a
discipline pursued by individuals to becoming an industry. Irene was one of a select group
of women pioneers who made their way in what had hitherto been a man’s world.

In compiling this biography, I have not changed my opinion that Irene Manton was an
exceptional woman but I have been surprised at the breadth of her intellect and the depth of
her humanity. No period of her life is without interest and I hope that the story that follows
will give insights into her as a person, into the work that she carried out, and into how and
why she managed to make the transition from being a ‘classical’ fern cytologist to being a
world leader in a new and technically-sophisticated branch of biology."