Katharine Murray Lyell (1817–1915) was a British botanist, author of an early book on the worldwide distribution of

ferns A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except th ...

, and editor of volumes of the correspondence of several of the era's notable scientists.

Biography

Katharine Murray Horner was one of six daughters of the Scottish merchant and geologist

Leonard Horner Leonard Horner FRSE FRS FGS (17 January 1785 – 5 March 1864) was a Scottish merchant, geologist and educational reformer. He was the younger brother of Francis Horner. Horner was a founder of the School of Arts of Edinburgh, now Heriot-Wa ...

. Leonard Horner educated his daughters well and took them with him to meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Katharine Horner's older sister

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

was a

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and

conchologist Conchology () is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs; however, malacology is the study of molluscs as whole organisms, whereas conchology is confined to the study of their shells. It includ ...

who married the geologist

Charles Lyell Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known as the author of ''Principles of Geolo ...

. Katharine Horner subsequently married Charles Lyell's younger brother, Henry. Their oldest son,

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English language, English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek wikiwikiweb:Λέων, � ...

, became a member of Parliament. As a botanist, Katharine Lyell specialized in ferns and in 1870 published a volume on the geographic distribution of ferns worldwide. In her preface, she acknowledges a debt to

William Jackson Hooker Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew he ...

's unfinished compendium of ferns, ''Synopsis Filicum'' (posthumously published in 1868), but Lyell's book was the first to be organized around the geography of ferns rather than more usual taxonomic categories. She traveled to India with Henry, where she collected plants in several regions including the Ganges delta, and she corresponded with such eminent Victorians of her day as the scientists

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural se ...

and

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

and the missionary

Harriette Colenso Harriette Emily Colenso (30 June 1847 – 2 June 1932) was a British Christian missionary in southern Africa. She was the eldest of five daughters of John Colenso, the first bishop of Natal, and continued his work, interceding on behalf of the Zu ...

(who collected ferns for her). Her fern collection is shared between

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 ...

and

The University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

br>Herbarium (RNG)
while her other plants went to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Lyell undertook the editorship of volumes of correspondence and memoirs of three of her era's outstanding scientists. When her brother-in-law Charles died in 1875, she became the compiler and editor of a two-volume edition of his life, letters, and journals. A decade later, following her father's death, she edited two volumes of his letters. She also edited the life and letters of another of her brothers-in-law, Charles Bunbury, a noted paleobotanist. All are still being cited by scholars researching the period.

Publications

*Katharine Lyell. ''A Geographical Handbook of All the Known Ferns: With Tables to Show Their Distribution''. London: John Murray, 1870. *Katharine Lyell, ed. ''The Life, Letters and Journals of Sir Charles Lyell''. London: John Murray, 1881. *Katharine Lyell, ed. ''Memoir of Leonard Horner, F.R.S., F.G.S.: Consisting of Letters to his Family and from Some of his Friends''. London: Women's Printing Society, 1890. *Katharine Lyell, ed. ''The Life and Letters of Sir Charles J.F. Bunbury''. London: John Murray, 1906.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyell, Katharine Murray 1817 births 1915 deaths British botanists 19th-century British women scientists