Caroline Molesworth (4 November 1794 - 29 December 1872) was a British botanist and meteorologist. She moved from London to Cobham in Surrey in 1823 and immediately began a series of regular observations which continued until 1858 and in part until 1867. Each day she recorded data in 19 columns, including the date, hours of sunset and sunrise, several temperature readings, barometer pressure, observations on animals and on plants, and Tagliabue's storm glass reading. This storm glass has been described by Anderson as "a mixture of camphor, potassium nitrate and ammonium chloride in alcohol and water, in which particles apparently crystallized more or less strongly under different weather conditions"; the same author notes that "it was described by her biographer dismissively as 'scarcely more than a scientific toy' ". Molesworth's records covering 1825-1850 were published in 1880 as ''The Cobham Journals: abstracts and summaries of meteorological and phenological observations made by Miss Caroline Molesworth, at Cobham, Surrey, in the years 1825-1850'', edited by Eleanor A. Ormerod (the first female fellow of the

Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is a long-established institution that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Associate Fellows can be lay enthus ...

), and reviewed in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

''. This was republished in 2015 by

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. She was the daughter of

Sir William Molesworth, 6th Baronet Sir William Molesworth, 6th Baronet (30 June 1758 – 22 February 1798) was one of the Molesworth baronets of Pencarrow, Cornwall and a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1784 and 1790. Early life Molesworth was the son of ...

, of Pencarrow, and Caroline Treby Ourry. The Baronetcy went to her brother Arscott Ourry Molesworth and then his son William Molesworth. Caroline's nephew Hugh Molesworth inherited the title as 9th Baronet, and remained in Cornwall as a country parson: she sent him many gifts of flower and vegetable seed for the garden he planted at the Parsonage House, Little Petherick in 1857. Molesworth's letters and her herbarium are held at

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 ...

, London. Her diaries of observations are held by the

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and are accessible online as .pdf files. ''Click "Browse record" to access large .pdf files''

References

External links

* ''Includes two images of Molesworth's observations'' 1794 births 1872 deaths 19th-century British botanists British women botanists British women scientists British meteorologists Daughters of baronets Caroline {{UK-botanist-stub