Anne Maria Barkly, Lady Barkly ( Pratt; 1837–1932) was a British botanist active in the

flora of Mauritius The wildlife of Mauritius consists of its flora and fauna. Mauritius is located in the Indian Ocean to the east of Madagascar. Due to its isolation, it has a relatively low diversity of wildlife; however, a high proportion of these are endemic spec ...

and South Africa.

Life

Barkly was born in 1837. The city of Melbourne became a city ten years later. She lived for twelve years in India before moving to Australia with her parents Frances Agnes (born Cooper) and Major General

Thomas Simson Pratt General Sir Thomas Simson Pratt, (1797 – 2 February 1879) was a British Army officer. He served in the First Anglo-Chinese War (1839–1841), in India from 1843 to 1855 where he was deputy adjutant-general at Madras, and was commander of the ...

. Her father was in command of the British forces in Australia. He arrived in Melbourne in January 1860. She married Sir

Henry Barkly Sir Henry Barkly (24 February 1815 – 20 October 1898) was a British politician, colonial governor and patron of the sciences. Early life and education Born on 24 February 1815 at Highbury, Middlesex (now London), he was the eldest son of ...

, the

governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and the ...

, in 1860. He was 45 and she was his second wife; his first wife, Elizabeth Helen Timins, had died in Victoria in 1857 after childbirth. The wedding was reported as a "secret wedding" but it attracted 200–300 onlookers and they were married by Charles Perry, the Bishop of Melbourne. The wedding was at

Christ Church, South Yarra Christ Church, South Yarra is the Anglican parish church of the suburb of South Yarra in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The parish is in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne and dates from 1856. The parish is well known as belonging to the Angl ...

which had been completed in 1857. She and her husband honeymooned at the governor's residence whilst her father went to New Zealand to take command during the

First Taranaki War The First Taranaki War (also known as the North Taranaki War) was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori people, Māori and the New Zealand government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand's North ...

Anne Maria Barkly fancy dress by chevalier 1860

In the year that she married, she had a dress design created for her by the Russian-born artist

Nicholas Chevalier Nicholas Chevalier (9 May 1828 – 15 March 1902) was a Russian-born artist who worked in Australia and New Zealand. Early life Chevalier was born in St Petersburg, Russia, the son of Louis Chevalier, who came from Vaud, Switzerland, and was ove ...

. It was intended as fancy dress and featured fern-inspired designs; its construction included sheepskin and gemstones. The dress has been cited as an example of

pteridomania Pteridomania or fern fever was a Victorian craze for ferns. Decorative arts of the period presented the fern motif in pottery, glass, metal, textiles, wood, printed paper, and sculpture, with ferns "appearing on everything from christening ...

. Chevalier also designed a

lyrebird A lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds that compose the genus ''Menura'', and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their impressive ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environme ...

-inspired fan as an accessory to the outfit. It appears that she never wore the dress as she chose to appear as a "Marquise of the Court of Louis XV" for the Mayor's Ball in 1863. Chevalier's dress design was rejected by Barkly but they collaborated to work on a present for the newly married

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton). The title was firs ...

. The present was from the women of Victoria and like the dress the silver and gold flower stand featured icons of Australian life. Her husband was suddenly appointed as the

governor of British Mauritius The governor of Mauritius was the official who governed the Crown Colony of Mauritius (now Republic of Mauritius) during the British colonial period between 1810 and 1968. Upon the end of British rule and the independence of Mauritius in 1968, th ...

in the spring of 1863. This enabled her to record botanic specimens. She corresponded with Sir

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of t ...

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

about the botanical specimens she was collecting. She told him in 1869 of specimens that had been sent to her from Singapore. In 1870, her husband became the first governor of the Cape of Good Hope. He collected botanical specimens and so did she. She and her step-daughter Emily Blanche Barkly recorded the findings. In 1875, she published ''A Revised List of the Ferns of South Africa'', which she had compiled.

Death and legacy

Both Barkly herself, her husband's first wife Elizabeth and Emily Blanche Barkly were recognised as botanists in the ''Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists''. She died in 1932. Some of her ferns are in the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

and some of her botanic drawings are at Kew Gardens.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barkly, Anne Maria 1837 births 1932 deaths British women botanists 19th-century British botanists Botanical illustrators 20th-century South African botanists South African women botanists Wives of knights 19th-century South African botanists 20th-century South African women scientists