Ethel Gertrude Skeat (1865–1939), also known by her married name of Ethel Woods, was an English

stratigrapher Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers ( strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostrat ...

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

, and geologist who became known for her work on

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

glacial deposits in Denmark and on Lower

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

rocks in Wales. She and her chief collaborator,

Margaret Crosfield Margaret Chorley Crosfield (7 September 1859 – 13 October 1952) was a British paleontologist and geologist. Biography Crosfield became an active member of the Geologists' Association in 1892, later becoming a council member in 1918. In 1894 she ...

, are credited with undertaking research that substantially advanced understanding of the geological history of northeast Wales. She wrote several books on geology.

Biography

Early life

Ethel Gertrude Skeat was born on 14 May 1865, one of five children of Bertha (Jones) Skeat and

Walter William Skeat Walter William Skeat, (21 November 18356 October 1912) was a British philologist and Anglican deacon. The pre-eminent British philologist of his time, he was instrumental in developing the English language as a higher education subject in th ...

, a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Cambridge University. Her brother

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

was an anthropologist.

Education and career

Woods was privately educated until the age of 25, when she entered

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicent ...

, Cambridge. There she met both her future collaborator Margaret Crosfield and her future husband, the geologist Henry Woods, whom she married in 1910. While still a student, she joined the Geologists' Union. She became a fellow of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

in 1919, as soon as it opened to women. In 1894 she became the

Arthur Hugh Clough Arthur Hugh Clough ( ; 1 January 181913 November 1861) was an English poet, an educationalist, and the devoted assistant to Florence Nightingale. He was the brother of suffragist Anne Clough and father of Blanche Athena Clough who both became p ...

Scholar and completed part one of the

Natural Science Tripos The Natural Sciences Tripos (NST) is the framework within which most of the science at the University of Cambridge is taught. The tripos includes a wide range of Natural Sciences from physics, astronomy, and geoscience, to chemistry and biology, w ...

Certificate with a Class I. From 1895 to 1897, she held a Bathurst research scholarship, which was awarded for proficiency in natural sciences. She used the scholarship to travel to Munich, Germany, where she became the first woman to study under paleontologist

Karl Alfred von Zittel Karl Alfred Ritter von Zittel (25 September 1839 – 5 January 1904) was a German palaeontologist best known for his ''Handbuch der Palaeontologie'' (1876–1880). Biography Karl Alfred von Zittel was born in Bahlingen in the Grand Duchy o ...

. During her time abroad, she worked on the paleontology of glacial boulders from the Jurassic era in Denmark. She subsequently became an Associate of Newnham College. In 1905 she was awarded a

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

(D.Sc.) degree by Trinity College Dublin in recognition of her contributions to geological research. For over a decade (1898–1910), she taught sciences in various secondary schools, first in Penwarth (Wales) and then in Chester, England. In 1911 she became a lecturer at the Cambridge Training Institute for Women; she stayed two years initially but returned after World War I for another two decades. During the war itself, thanks to her knowledge of German, she worked for the Post Office in the censorship department.

Geological contributions

While still at Newnham, she collaborated with Crosfield on her first published paper, on Welsh stratigraphy in the area of

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

(1896). She later published two papers (1898, 1904) on Jurassic and Cretaceous boulders in Denmark and east Greenland, the first of which she coauthored with Danish geologist Victor Madsen. In 1908 she became the first English woman to win the

Murchison Fund The Murchison Fund is an award given by the Geological Society of London to researchers under the age of 40 who have contributed substantially to the study of hard rock and tectonic geology. It is named in honour of Prof. Roderick Impey Murchison. ...

offered by the

, as a mark of appreciation for her geological work in Denmark and Wales. In 1925 she collaborated again with Crosfield on a paper about the

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...

stratigraphy of the

Clwydian Range The Clwydian Range ( cy, Bryniau Clwyd; also known as the Clwydian Hills; or simply the Clwyds) is a series of hills in the north-east of Wales that runs from Llandegla in the south to Prestatyn in the north, the highest point being the popu ...

in northeast Wales. In the later part of her career, she wrote several books on geology, including ''Principles of Geology: Physical and Human'' (1923) and ''The Baltic Region'' (1932). She became ill in mid-1938 and died on 26 January 1939 in

Meldreth Meldreth is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, located around south-west of Cambridge. At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish was 1,783. History A large Bronze Age hoard was found near Meldreth railway s ...

, England.

References

External links