History

Mary Anning - her life and work

Mary Anning, the celebrated fossil collector of Lyme Regis, was nominated as a Royal Society Local Hero in 2009 and one of the ten most influential women in the history of science. Mary was born on 21 May 1799 into a poor family with ten children, only two of whom survived to adulthood. Lyme Regis was then a very important holiday destination for the middle classes who were prevented from going abroad by the Napoleonic Wars. Her father supplemented the income from his carpentry business, by collecting and selling fossils to tourists. When Mary was one year old, she and some adults were sheltering under a tree during a storm. Unfortunately, the tree was struck by lightning and she was the only survivor, although afterwards she was said to be much livelier and more intelligent. She had no formal education except learning to read and write at Sunday school. The rest of her knowledge was self-taught - she spent many hours copying out scientific papers to learn about geology. Mary was very keen on helping her father with the fossil collecting and cleaning, and learned her skills from him. When he died at a young age, after a fall from a cliff, she was able to take on the fossil business to support her family, which included her mother and her brother Joseph. The fossils Mary found were sea creatures, as the cliffs around Lyme Regis were once the bed of a shallow sea. She found fossils such as ammonites and belemnites which were related to present day molluscs, such as squid. In 1811 Mary and Joseph unearthed a reptile known as an ichthyosaur, and Mary went on to organise the excavation of this huge fossil when she was just twelve years old. She sold the fossil and it was put on display, but even with the fossil sales, the Annings were still poor. Fortunately, a friend who bought fossils from them, Lieutenant Colonel James Birch, decided to sell his fossil collection and give the money to the Anning family. Mary’s fossil discoveries also attracted the attention of some of the leading geologists and palaeontologists of the day. These were emerging sciences at the time and the scientists who collaborated with Mary included William Buckland, William Conybeare, Henry de la Beche and Gideon Mantell, who were at the forefront of these new sciences. They visited Mary at Lyme Regis and bought fossils from her, as well as collecting fossils with her and often presenting the finds as their own work without reference to Mary. The large fossil reptiles Mary found, such as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, caused great excitement and much debate at the time. The fossils embedded in the rock layers were beginning to cast doubt on the theory that God had created all creatures on the earth at once, and challenged the teachings of the church. Mary made one trip away from Lyme Regis, travelling to London by boat

Credited to ‘Mr Grey’ in Crispin Tickell’s book ‘Mary Anning of Lyme Regis’ (1996)

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ammonites

to see her fossils on display at the British Museum. She stayed with the Muchisons who were also keen fossil collectors. Mary eventually received some recognition for her work when fossil species were named after her, including a fish and a belemite. In 1846 she was made an honorary member of The Geological Society of London and received a pension from the government in addition to a yearly grant from The British Association for the Advancement of Science, in recognition of her contributions to geology. Mary’s fossil discoveries had a huge influence on Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species, which states that all species evolved from a common ancestor.

Mary died of breast cancer in 1847 aged just 48, and a stained-glass window was placed in the local church in her honour. Her gravestone at Lyme Regis, which she shares with her brother Joseph and some of his children, has

The Cobb Lyme Regis

recently been restored with permission from Sir Crispin Tickell, one of Mary’s descendants. Mary Anning’s work has been hugely motivational for women in science, as she came from a poor, working class background, and yet through her acquired knowledge of geology, she was able to converse with some of the leading scientists of her day. Her life and work have been the inspiration for numerous books including adult and children’s books, as well as a recent film called Ammonite, which revealed unknown aspects of her life. On 21 May this year, 223 years after her birth, a bronze sculpture of Mary Anning was unveiled on Lyme Regis seafront, on the corner of Long Entry and Gun Cliff Walk, overlooking the beach where she made some of her greatest discoveries – she remains a true inspiration.

Dr Ann Pulsford

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