Betty Molesworth Allen Explained

Betty Molesworth Allen
Birth Name:Betty Eleanor Gosset Molesworth
Birth Date:21 July 1913
Birth Place:Ōpōtiki, New Zealand
Death Place:Marbella, Spain
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Author Abbrev Bot:B.M.Allen

Betty Eleanor Gosset Molesworth Allen (Molesworth, 21 July 1913 – 11 October 2002) was a New Zealand botanist.[1] She researched and published extensively on Southeast Asian ferns, and in her retirement she discovered a fern in southern Spain that had previously been thought to be an exclusively tropical species.

Early life

Molesworth Allen was born on 21 July 1913 in Ōpōtiki, a small town in the North Island of New Zealand. Her father, Arthur Ernest Parnell Molesworth, a farmer, was the Paris-born younger son of a Cornwall rector, the 8th Viscount Molesworth.[2] Her mother, born Nellie Maud Banks, was a friend of the suffragist Pankhurst family.

Molesworth Allen suffered tuberculosis, polio and cancer as a child and spent most of her childhood in hospitals and unable to attend schools. However, both her parents were passionate about nature and wildlife, particularly birds, and as a result she grew up with a love of flora and fauna.[3]

Career

Molesworth Allen became interested in botany through Lucy Cranwell, a botanist at the Auckland Museum. Cranwell introduced her to systematic biology and encouraged her interest in natural history. She was also influenced by John Holloway who inspired her interest in ferns.[4] In 1939, Molesworth Allen was involved in the establishment of the Auckland Botanical Society and was its inaugural secretary. During World War II Molesworth Allen volunteered for the Women's Auxiallary Air Force, before replacing Cranwell as botanist at Auckland Museum from 1944 to 1947.[5] In these years she made important additions to the museum's collections, including mosses and sedges and the field notebooks of T.F. Cheeseman.

In 1947 Molesworth Allen received a scholarship to study in Basel, Switzerland. Stopping over in Malaya, she met and married Geoffrey Allen; declining the scholarship in Switzerland, she instead settled in Malaya where she trained in tropical botany and worked in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. From 1948 she travelled extensively in Southeast Asia, particularly to Malaysia, Borneo and Thailand, observing plants and collecting samples from the jungles. However, her work became dangerous during the 1948–1960 State of Emergency as Communist guerillas set up camps in the jungles.

In 1963 Molesworth Allen retired to Los Barrios in Andalusia, Spain, where she continued to collect and study plants, particularly ferns. In January 1965 she discovered the fern Psilotum nudum (L.) P. Beauv. growing in Algeciras in southern Spain, which had previously been assumed to be a solely tropical species.[6] As a result of her discovery, the area was extensively studied and eventually protected as a national park, Los Alcornocales Natural Park.

Publications

Books

Articles

Honours and recognition

In 1988, Molesworth was made an adopted daughter of the town of Los Barrios, and a botanical park in the town was named in her honour – the Betty Molesworth Memorial Park.[18] [19] In 1995 she was awarded the H.H. Bloomer Award by the Linnean Society of London for her discovery of Psilotum nudum in Europe. In the 1997 Queen's Birthday Honours she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to botany.

The hybrid plants Narcissus x alleniae and Centaurea molesworthiae were named after Molesworth Allen. A part of the Gua Tempurung, the largest limestone cave in Peninsular Malaysia, is named the Molesworth Allen Tunnel after her.[20]

Personal life

In 1948 Molesworth Allen married Geoffrey Allen, a pilot, wildlife photographer and amateur ornithologist. They were married until his death in 1985.

Molesworth Allen died in Marbella, Spain, on 11 October 2002.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Allen, Betty Eleanor Gosset Molesworth (1913–2002). en.
  2. Book: Debrett's Peerage, and Titles of Courtesy: In which is Included Full Information Respecting the Collateral Branches of Peers, Privy Councillors, Lords of Session, Etc . 1921 . Dean . 638 . 16 August 2024 . en.
  3. Web site: Betty Molesworth Allen . Naturatessen . es-ES . 2017-08-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402101100/http://www.naturatessen.com/?page_id=4605. 2 April 2015. dead.
  4. Cameron. Ewen K.. 2002. Betty E. G. Molesworth Allen OBE 1913–2002. Auckland Botanical Society Journal. 57. 142–143.
  5. Web site: New Zealand Botanical Society Newsletter. 2002. 13 August 2017.
  6. News: Betty Molesworth Allen. 2017-08-13. en.
  7. Book: Allen, Betty Molesworth. Some Common Trees of Malaya. 1957. Eastern Universities Press. en.
  8. Book: Allen, Betty Molesworth. Malayan Fruits: An Introduction to the Cultivated Species. 1967. D. Moore Press. en.
  9. Book: Allen, Betty Molesworth. A Selection of Wildflowers of Southern Spain. 2006-03-31. Santana Books. 9788489954120. en.
  10. Web site: The Malayan Nature Journal. April 1964. 13 August 2017.
  11. Web site: The Malayan Nature Journal. April 1964. 13 August 2017.
  12. News: Year of Publication: 1964, Vol. 20 (4). Administrator. 2017-08-13.
  13. Web site: Full text of "The British fern gazette.". archive.org. en. 2017-08-13.
  14. News: Year of Publication: 1967, Vol. 22 (1&2). Administrator. 2017-08-13.
  15. Web site: The Malayan Nature Journal. March 1969. 13 August 2017.
  16. Web site: Notes on two species of Arisarum in south-west Spain. 1971. 13 August 2017.
  17. Web site: The British Fern Gazette. 1971. 13 August 2017.
  18. Web site: Botanic Park Betty Molesworth Los Barrios Algeciras Holiday Inn Express Campo de Gibraltar – Barrios. www.expressgibraltar.com. en-gb. 2017-08-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20170813143304/http://www.expressgibraltar.com/botanic-park-betty-molesworth. 13 August 2017. dead.
  19. Web site: Places to Visit – Los Barrios – A Morning Visit. www.eportbic.com. 2017-08-13.
  20. Web site: Gua Tempurung Perak limestone cave tunnel. ipoh.info. 2017-08-13.