Female aristocrats in the natural history world before the establishment of the Geological Society of London
Citations
Altmetric:
Advisors
Editors
Other Contributors
Affiliation
EPub Date
Issue Date
07/12/2020
Submitted Date
2021-02-09
Subject Terms
Anna Brassey
Louisa Finch
Margaret Cavendish Bentinck
Female Collectors
Museum collections
Geological specimens
Shells
Fossils
Taxonomy
Collections catalogues
Louisa Finch
Margaret Cavendish Bentinck
Female Collectors
Museum collections
Geological specimens
Shells
Fossils
Taxonomy
Collections catalogues
Collections
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Other Titles
Abstract
A fascination with natural history does not recognize class, as is shown through the activities of female aristocrats who, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, contributed significantly by increasing the number of collections at natural history museums. These women were not members of the Geological Society of London because, at that time, women were not even allowed to be members, but they still left their impressive legacy in museums. This paper will focus on three women who made extensive collections that are now incorporated into British museums. The first of these, the Duchess of Portland, made one of the finest collections in England and, possibly, the best collection of shells and fossils in Europe of her time, which was later acquired by the Natural History Museum, London. She was followed by the Countess of Aylesford who made one of the most important mineral collections of her time, which is now at the Natural History Museum, London. Finally, Baroness Brassey collected geological samples during her trips that were used to establish the Brassey Institute in Hastings. These three women used their own income and influence to build collections.
Citation
Consuelo Sendino and Julian Porter. Female aristocrats in the natural history world before the establishment of the Geological Society of London. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 506, 7 December 2020, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP506-2019-164
Publisher
Research Unit
PubMed ID
PubMed Central ID
Embedded videos
Type
Journal Article
Item Description
© 2020 The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London. Published by The Geological Society of London. All rights reserved. For permissions: http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/permissions. Publishing disclaimer: www.geolsoc.org.uk/pub_ethics. The attached document is the author(’s’) final accepted/submitted version of the journal article. You are advised to consult the publisher’s version if you wish to cite from it.
NHM Repository
NHM Repository
Series/Report no.
ISSN
0305-8719
EISSN
2041-4927