Mary Wyatt Explained

Mary Wyatt
Birth Date:1789
Death Place:Devon, England
Occupation:Botanist, phycologist, retailer
Notable Works:Algae Danmonienses or Dried Specimens of Marine Plants, Principally Collected in Devonshire; Carefully Named According to Dr. Hooker's British Flora (1834-1841)

Mary Wyatt (1789–1871)[1] [2] was a British botanist, phycologist and retailer from Torquay, Devon.[1] [3] [4] She was the compiler of the respected Algae Danmonienses - a collection, i.e. exsiccata, of seaweeds[5] [6] to which William Henry Harvey later considered his Manual of the British Algae (1841) a 'companion' work.[7] Wyatt helped to fuel the Victorian 'seaweed craze' for collecting.[8] The tongue twister 'She Sells Seashells on the Sea Shore' was possibly inspired by Wyatt and her close companion Amelia Griffiths, with whom she collected seaweed and sea shells in Devon.[9]

Life

Mary Wyatt was born in 1789 and, from humble beginnings, went on to be a respected collector and proprietor of seaweeds and sea shells, with a shop in Torquay. Wyatt had worked as a servant for the family of phycologist and seaweed collector Amelia Warren Griffiths, who encouraged Wyatt to pursue her own work in the field.[10] Wyatt accompanied Griffiths on her collecting expeditions, learning from her, but has been described as otherwise 'quite illiterate' having had no other formal education.

Wyatt opened her shop at 7 Torwood Row, Torquay selling corals, dried seaweeds, mosses, and other seaside souvenirs.[11] This helped to support her and her husband, who was a "permanent invalid". According to Bea Howe, it was at the suggestion of botanist William Henry Harvey that Wyatt began to prepare a named collection of seaweeds, supervised by Griffiths. Ultimately, Wyatt produced five volumes of mounted specimens of Devon marine algae titled Algae Danmonienses, published between 1833 and 1841. Each volume contained approximately 50 different species, and the supplement included examples from Cornwall, as well as from Devonshire: a further 36 species.[12] Each specimen was named and numbered according William Jackson Hooker's British Flora, and other works on British algae, with a short description of the habitat and locality where the seaweed is found, and an indication of its rarity. These sold well, contributing to the popularity of seaweed collecting at seaside resorts in early Victorian Britain.[13] [14] The Journal of Botany called them "remarkable".

Algae Danmonienses: or dried specimens of Marine Plants, principally collected in Devonshire by Mary Wyatt; carefully named according to Dr. Hooker's British Flora'[15] was described as "a most important work... composed of specimens of 234 species, beautifully dried and correctly named... Nature’s own pencil illustrating herself".[16] William Henry Harvey went on to refer readers to Wyatt's work on the publication of his own (unillustrated) Manual of the British Algae (1841), urging them to consider his work a “companion” to Algae Danmonienses.[17] Wyatt also corresponded with other naturalists, including Lewis Weston Dillwyn, to whom she sent specimens for identification.[18]

Death and legacy

Mary Wyatt died in 1871, aged 82.

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh holds collections gathered by Wyatt between 1833 and 1840.[19] The work of Wyatt and Griffiths, 'an active collaboration, as they scrambled across rocky shores in cumbersome skirts, compared notes and exchanged specimens in real time', has been explored by Frankie Dytor as part of 'Out and About: Queering the Museum':[20] a National Lottery Heritage-funded project focused on uncovering and celebrating LGBTQ+ heritage among the collections of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery (RAMM) in Exeter.[21]

References

  1. Web site: Wyatt, Mary International Plant Names Index . 2022-07-31 . www.ipni.org.
  2. Web site: 50 Treasures: British Marine Algae . 2022-07-31 . James Cook University Library . jculibrarynews.blogspot.com.
  3. Web site: Amelia Warren Griffiths (1768-1858) . 2022-07-31 . RAMM . en-GB.
  4. Book: Desmond, Ray . Great natural history books and their creators . 2003 . London, UK : British Library ; New Castle, DE : Oak Knoll Press . Internet Archive . 978-0-7123-4774-7.
  5. Book: Howe, Bea . Antiques from the Victorian home . 1989 . London : Spring Books . Internet Archive . 978-0-600-56279-5.
  6. Web site: Algae Danmonienses or dried specimens of marine plants, principally collected in Devonshire; carefully named according to Dr. Hooker's British Flora: IndExs ExsiccataID=1648242431 . IndExs - Index of Exsiccatae . Botanische Staatssammlung München. 9 May 2024.
  7. Web site: Amelia Warren Griffiths (1768-1858) . 2022-07-31 . RAMM . en-GB.
  8. Web site: Oatman-Stanford . Hunter . When Housewives Were Seduced by Seaweed . 2022-07-31 . Collectors Weekly . en.
  9. Web site: Smith . Colleen . 2021-12-04 . Torquay spectacle sheds new light on town . 2022-07-31 . DevonLive . en.
  10. Griffiths [née Rogers], Amelia Warren (1768–1858), phycologist and seaweed collector ]. 2022-07-31 . 2004 . en . 10.1093/ref:odnb/59318. 978-0-19-861412-8 .
  11. Book: Blewitt, Octavian . PANORAMA OF TORQUAY, DESCRIPTIVE AND HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE DISTRICT COMPRISED BETWEEN THE DART AND TEIGN . Simkin and Marshall and Cockrem . 1832 . 2nd . London.
  12. Web site: WYATT, Mary. Algae Danmonienses, or Dried Specimens of Marine Plants, principally collected in Devonshire. Torquay: Cockrem for the author, [1834-1840]. ]. 2022-07-31 . www.christies.com . en.
  13. Web site: MV . 2014-08-01 . The Queen of seaweeds » History & Community . 2022-07-31 . Marshwood Vale Magazine . en-US.
  14. Web site: Nature Domesticated: A Victorian Seaweed Scrapbook . 2022-07-31 . victorianweb.org.
  15. Web site: LIBRARY . NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, LONDON/SCIENCE PHOTO . Seaweed (Desmarestia ligulata) - Stock Image - C016/6014 . 2022-07-31 . Science Photo Library . en.
  16. Book: XXVIII.—Information respecting Zoological and Botanical Travellers . 1841 . English.
  17. 2011-07-15 . Pressed into Service: Specimens, Space, and Seeing in Botanical Practice . en . 10.7208/chicago/9780226487298.003.0012.
  18. Web site: Association . Natural Sciences Collections . 2019-08-15 . Stories from Pressed Plant Books in the Botany Collections . 2022-07-31 . NatSCA . en.
  19. Web site: Edinburgh . Royal Botanic Garden . Algae Our Collections Science & Conservation . 2022-07-31 . www.rbge.org.uk . en.
  20. Web site: Amelia Grifffiths' Seaweed Collection Out and About . 28 April 2021 . 2022-07-31 . en-GB.
  21. Web site: Overview Out and About . 2022-07-31 . en-GB.

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