Lilian Sheldon (May 1862 – 6 May 1942) was an English zoologist.

Life

Sheldon was born in Handsworth in 1862 where her father was the vicar (one source says 1860). She had two brothers who survived and four sisters. Her parents Ann (born Sharp) and the Reverend John Sheldon arranged for their daughters to attend

Handsworth Ladies' College Handsworth may refer to: * Handsworth, West Midlands, a suburb of Birmingham in the West Midlands, United Kingdom **Handsworth riots (disambiguation) **Handsworth Wood, an area adjacent to the above **Birmingham Handsworth (UK Parliament constitue ...

and remarkably three of the girls went on to higher education in Cambridge. Lillian Sheldon went to Newnham College in 1880 and two others to Girton College. Her elder sister

Helen Sheldon Helen Maud Sheldon (15 October 1859 – 16 May 1945) was a British headmistress of Sydenham High School and an educationist. Life Sheldon was born in Handsworth in 1859 where her father was the vicar. or 1860 She had two brothers who survived and ...

became a notable headteacher at Sydenham. Lilian took two Natural Sciences Tripos examinations in Cambridge in 1883 and 1884. Sheldon conducted research on the development of the newt embryo with Alice Johnson and, as well, on the anatomy and morphology of ''Cynthia rustica'' (now called '' Styela rustica'') and ''

Peripatus ''Peripatus'' is a genus of velvet worms in the Peripatidae family. The name "peripatus" (unitalicised and uncapitalised) is also used to refer to the Onychophora as a whole, although this group comprises many other genera besides ''Peripatus' ...

''. Her results were published in the '' Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science''. Sheldon also contributed a section on

Nemertines Nemertea is a phylum of animals also known as ribbon worms or proboscis worms, consisting of 1300 known species. Most ribbon worms are very slim, usually only a few millimeters wide, although a few have relatively short but wide bodies. Many ...

to volume 2 of the ''Cambridge Natural History'' series. She worked at the College as a demonstrator on morphology from 1892 to 1893, and lectured on comparative anatomy from 1893 to 1898. She was a College associate from 1894 to 1906. She retired from academia around 1898. She later published a number of articles on traditional Devonshire buildings in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association. During World War I, she worked for YMCA in Birmingham, where she was one of the earliest women drivers in the country. In 1931 her brother Gilbert Sheldon died. He had suffered from paralysis nearly all his life but he had published a number of books and travelled widely with his six sisters. It was Lilian and Walter de la Mare who wrote the introduction to his last work published in 1932. She also served on the local hospital committee at Exmouth. Sheldon died there at the age of 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Lilian 20th-century British zoologists 1862 births 1942 deaths Women zoologists Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge 19th-century British zoologists 19th-century British women scientists 20th-century British women scientists People from Handsworth, West Midlands