Jessica Duncan Piazzi Smyth (1812 – 24 March 1896) made geological tours of the British Isles and Europe, and traveled to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

, and throughout the Mediterranean on scientific expeditions with her husband,

Charles Piazzi Smyth Charles Piazzi Smyth (3 January 1819 – 21 February 1900) was an Italian-born British astronomer who was Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1846 to 1888; he is known for many innovations in astronomy and, along with his wife Jessica Duncan ...

, the Astronomer Royal for Scotland.

Life

Jessica "Jessie" Duncan was born in Aberdeen the daughter of Jannet Young and Thomas Duncan. Her father was a lawyer; after his death, Jessie Duncan was raised at Clova, the home of her stepfather, Harry Keith Lumsden, in the village of Lumsden. When Lumsden died in 1844, Jessie and her mother moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. She studied geology with Alexander Rose of the

Edinburgh Geological Society The Edinburgh Geological Society (EGS) was founded in 1834 in Edinburgh, Scotland, with the aim of stimulating public interest in geology and the advancement of geological knowledge. It was a time of debate and controversy surrounding the emergi ...

. As a single woman in her thirties, Jessie Duncan joined geological field trips around the British Isles, and traveled as far from home as

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and Italy in her scientific pursuits. She attended the

British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...

meeting in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

in 1852. She married Charles Piazzi Smyth in December 1855, and the two traveled the following year to

, to visit the peak of the highest mountain and assess its potential for an astronomical observatory. Together, the Piazzi Smyths traveled around the Mediterranean and Northern Africa, making astronomical observations, often in mountainous locations. Jessie kept the notes and sketches for their expeditions, learned to prepare and preserve local foods, and was otherwise a constant assistant to her husband's work. "Her love of scientific travel was equal to Piazzi's own," notes biographer Mary T. Brück. She was also skilled at early photographic processes, and she printed hundreds of photographs used in Piazzi Smyth's reports and publications. Almost entirely at their own expense, she and Charles sailed in November 1864 to Egypt and spent four months under canvas beside the

Great Pyramid of Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza is the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. Built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, ...

. There they completed the most thorough survey of that monument to date, backed up by photographs of both exterior and interior. Pyramid Tombstone in Sharow Churchyard - geograph

Pyramid Tombstone in Sharow Churchyard - geograph

The couple retired to Ripon in 1888, and Jessie Piazzi Smyth died there in 1896, aged 81. There is an unusual pyramid-shaped monument to both Piazzi Smyths, in the churchyard at St. John's,

Sharow Sharow is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate (borough), Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is about north-east of Ripon. The name Sharow derives from the Old English of 'Scearu' and 'Hōh' which translates as boundary ...

, North Yorkshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piazzi Smyth, Jessica Duncan 1815 births 1896 deaths 19th-century British geologists People from Aberdeen Scottish geologists Scottish women geologists 19th-century British women scientists Great Pyramid of Giza