Maria Wilman (29 April 1867 – 9 November 1957) was a South African geologist and botanist. She was the first Director of the

McGregor Museum The McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa, originally known as the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum, is a multidisciplinary museum which serves Kimberley and the Northern Cape, established in 1907. Overview Housed at first in a purpos ...

in Kimberley, South Africa and the second female South African to attend the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in England."Maria Wilman"
(2012). ''The African Rock Art Digital Archive''. Retrieved 24 September 2012.

Early life

Born in

Beaufort West Beaufort West (Afrikaans: ''Beaufort-Wes''; Xhosa: ''eBhofolo'') is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and is known as the "Capital of the Karoo". It forms part of the Beauf ...

on 29 April 1867, Wilman was the fifth of Herbert Wilman and Engela Johanna Neethling's nine daughters."Maria Wilman"
(1995). In ''New Dictionary of South African Biography''. Pretoria: HSRC. Retrieved 24 September 2012. Her father was an immigrant to South Africa from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and served as an MP for Beaufort West in the

Cape Parliament The Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope functioned as the legislature of the Cape Colony, from its founding in 1853, until the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, when it was dissolved and the Parliament of South Africa was establis ...

of Prime Minister

John Molteno Sir John Charles Molteno (5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a soldier, businessman, champion of responsible government and the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. Early life Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molten ...

."Maria Wilman" (1981). In ''Botanical Exploration: South Africa''. Retrieved 24 September 2012.

Education

Wilman first matriculated at the Good Hope Seminary in Cape Town. Later, in 1885, she entered the University of Cambridge and was only the second South African woman to do so. She completed a natural science tripos in geology,

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

, and

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 Sid ...

in 1888, and an MA in botany in 1895. However, women were not conferred formal degrees until the 1930s, so Wilman did not actually receive her MA from Cambridge until November 1931. In 1939 she was granted an honorary doctorate in law from the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

On the staff of the South African Museum

Wilman's museum career began when she returned to South Africa from England and worked as a volunteer in the Geology Department at the

South African Museum The Iziko South African Museum is a South African national museum located in Cape Town. The museum was founded in 1825, the first in the country. It has been on its present site in the Company's Garden since 1897. The museum houses important A ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. Because she did not have a formal degree and her father did not approve of her earning a salary, Wilman was unable to accept payment for her work at the museum. Nonetheless, she continued to work there in a volunteer capacity until 1902 when she was officially named an assistant in the Geology Department. While at the South African Museum, Wilman worked with Louis Albert Péringuey. Péringuey's interest in the San people and culture allowed her to take several research trips to the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. In 1906 she undertook an important journey up to Kimberley, the

Vryburg Vryburg () is a large agricultural town with a population of 48,400 situated in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality of the North West Province (South Africa), North West Province of South Africa. It is the seat and the industrial ...

region and further north, collecting specimens, and amassing data on rock engravings which was the start of a project culminating nearly three decades later in her publication ''Rock engravings of Griqualand West and Bechuanaland'' (1933), published in Cambridge. It remained the standard text on rock art in South Africa for nearly five decades. Wilman continued to study rock art, as well as the culture of the San and

Khoikhoi Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also ''Hottentot (racial term), Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 ...

peoples for the rest of her life.

Director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley

Wilman was appointed as the first Director of the newly founded McGregor Museum in Kimberley in 1908. She also founded the

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

there in the same year and began to cultivate its collection of regional plant life, which includes important type specimens from Northern Cape."The KMG Herbarium: An Ark of Plant Diversity"
(n.d.). ''Botany Department: McGregor Museum Kimberley''. Retrieved 24 September 2012. She fostered relationships with local collectors on specimens, like

Constance Georgina Adams Constance Georgina Adams (6 August 1883 – 21 June 1968), also known as Constance Georgina Tardrew, was a South African housewife and collector of botanical specimens. Known by the nicknames Connie and Daisy, Adams was born in Cape Town and spe ...

, with whom she developed a long term friendship. Her botanical work at the McGregor led to her publication ''Preliminary Checklist of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Griqualand West'' (1946). She also introduced

mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus ''Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under grou ...

and kurrajong trees to Kimberley and shared South African grass seeds with institutions and organisations in the United States. Some have attributed these grass species with resuscitating some of the

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) an ...

areas in the country, particular in the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Wilman stepped down from the directorship of the McGregor in 1947, but continued to work on her geology and botany studies there."Homepage"
(2007). ''McGregor Museum.'' Retrieved 24 September 2012. She retired from the museum completely in 1953 and went to live in George. Wilman died there on 9 November 1957. She had never married.

Legacy

Several plant species have been named in her honour, including Wilman lovegrass (''Eragrostis superb''), ''Watsonia wilmaniae'', ''Stapelia wilmaniae'', ''Ruschia wilmaniae'', ''Hereroa wilmaniae'', and ''Nananthus wilmaniae''.

References

External links

* View Wilman'
"Catalogue of Printed Books, Papers and Maps Relating to the Geology and Mineralogy of South Africa"
at

Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as worldwide consortiumof natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working toge ...

. * View Wilman'
"Notes on Some Bushman Paintings in the Thaba Bosigo District, Basutoland"
at

. * View Wilman'
"The Engraved Rock of Loe, Bechuanaland Protectorate"
at

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilman, Maria 1867 births 1957 deaths 20th-century South African botanists South African women botanists South African museologists South African women geologists People from Beaufort West People from George, South Africa 20th-century South African women scientists