Mary Elizabeth Barber (5 January 1818 – 4 September 1899) was a pioneering British-born amateur scientist of the nineteenth century. Without formal education, she made a name for herself in
botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
,
ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
and
entomology
Entomology () is the science, scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such ...
. She was also an accomplished poet and painter, and illustrated her scientific contributions that were published by learned societies such as the
Royal Entomological Society
The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists.
The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological Society of London ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, the
Royal Botanical Gardens in
Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...
, and the
Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
.
Early life
Barber was born Mary Elizabeth Bowker in
South Newton, Wiltshire
South Newton is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about north-west of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. Topologically it lies between chalk downs to the north-east, and downland with Grovely Wood to the southwest. The villag ...
, on 5 January 1818. She was the ninth of eleven
children and first daughter
of Miles and Anna Maria Bowker of
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
, Northumberland.
Her father was a moderately wealthy sheep farmer, owning his own wool-processing business.
In 1820 he moved his family to
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
along with other
British settlers
The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820.
Origins
After the ...
who wished to take advantage of the South African government's offer of 100 acres of land for every man over the age of 18. The Bowker family received land in Albany, near
Grahamstown
Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...
.
[ Here Bowker set up a school for his children and those of this workers, and his affinity for natural history heavily influenced the lessons the children received.]
Mary and her brothers all shared a love of natural history, but it was the 1838 publication of the book ''The genera of South African plants, arranged according to the Natural System'' by Irish botanist William Henry Harvey
William Henry Harvey, FRS FLS (5 February 1811 – 15 May 1866) was an Irish botanist and phycologist who specialised in algae.
Biography
Harvey was born at Summerville near Limerick, Ireland, in 1811, the youngest of 11 children. His father ...
that changed her life. She was fascinated by the chapters on the structure of plants and the Linnean classification system, and responded to the author's request for specimens so that he could begin documenting the flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
E ...
of the Cape.[ Her ongoing correspondence with Harvey took place during a time when it was not generally accepted for women to engage in scientific discussion;] indeed, in the beginning she did not disclose the fact that she was a woman.[ She enjoyed unprecedented freedom in this respect, partly because she was released from the relatively constraining ]Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
culture of her home country, but also because of her father's encouragement and the generally relaxed pre-Victorian (Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
) ideals he carried from an era when women enjoyed a freer voice. She became one of Harvey's main suppliers of plants from South Africa and also assisted him in the naming and classification of numerous species. Over a nearly 30-year correspondence, she sent Harvey approximately 1,000 species with notes on each one.[ She also established a correspondence with British botanist ]Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of t ...
.[
In 1842 she married Frederick William Barber, an analytical chemist who had established a farm in South Africa.][ They had two sons and a daughter.] Barber was the grandmother of the sculptor, Ivan Mitford-Barberton
Ivan Mitford-Barberton (1896–1976) was a sculptor, writer and authority on heraldry.
Early life and education
Mitford-Barberton was born in Somerset East, in Cape Colony, in 1896. He was a descendant of several 1820 Settler families. His g ...
Contributions to science
Botany
Barber made substantial contributions to botanical science of the era through her collections and scientific observations of South African flora and fauna. This resulted in several plant species being named after her. She and her younger brother, naturalist James Henry Bowker
Colonel James Henry Bowker (23 August 1825 – 27 October 1900), was a South African naturalist, archaeologist and soldier. He was co-author with Roland Trimen of ''South African Butterflies'' (1887–89; 3 vols.).
Early life
Bowker was th ...
, sent many previously unknown species of plants to 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 ...
at Trinity College Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
, and the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew.
''Aloidendron barberae
''Aloidendron barberae'', formerly ''Aloe bainesii'' and ''Aloe barberae'', also known as the tree aloe, is a species of succulent plant in the genus ''Aloidendron''. It is native to South Africa northwards to Mozambique. In its native climes th ...
'' (tree aloe) was first discovered by Barber, who was collecting plants in the former Transkei
Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ban ...
of South Africa. She sent specimens of the plant and its flowers to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, where in 1874 the specific epithet was given by William Turner Thiselton-Dyer
Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (28 July 1843 – 23 December 1928) was a leading British botanist, and the third director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Life and career
Thiselton-Dyer was born in Westminster, London. He was a son of ...
(1843–1928) in her honor. In addition, she discovered ''Lotononis harveyi'' (Mrs. Barber's beauty), which was named after her.
Entomology
Barber developed an interest in entomology while her husband was engaged in the ongoing guerilla warfare between the settlers and native Africans. With her brother, James Henry Bowker, she began documenting African moths and butterflies, and contacted entomologist Roland Trimen
Roland Trimen Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (29 October 1840 in London – 25 July 1916 in London) was a British-South African Natural history, naturalist, best known for ''South African Butterflies'' (1887–89), a collaborative work wi ...
(1840–1916) in 1863 to share her discoveries. Her observations are reported to have contributed to 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 ...
's deliberations on the role of moths in orchid pollination. Barber was introduced to Charles Darwin by Roland Trimen, a fellow British entomologist in South Africa in 1863. Barber exchanged letters and observations with Darwin and other gentlemen-naturalists in his scientific network. Her influence on Darwin's work was communicated indirectly, via Trimen. In 1865, Mary had declared she would write to Darwin herself about "the locusts and the locust birds", but there is no record of this, despite Darwin himself being a meticulous archiver of his correspondence. In other letters, Barber seemed to concur with Darwin's theory of natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...
, citing the dominance of European settlers in Cape Colony as proof.
Scientific societies
Barber's contributions to science were eventually rewarded in 1878 with an invitation to become a member of the South African Philosophical Society – a singular honour at the time. The Linnean Society in London did not welcome women as members until 1905, emphasizing the progressive nature of this South African society, and the impact that Barber had had on her discipline. Her reply to this invitation sums up the attitudes of the time:
"''I have no objection....and I don't see any reason why a Lady should in a quiet way be a member of any scientific society... I do not by any means approve of ladies coming publicly forward and usurping the places of men by preaching, making speeches, etc., but I don't see why they should not belong to any society that they are qualified for, and in a quiet way enjoy the too." ''
Barber joined the South African Philosophical Society on 26 June 1878. Her paper on the peculiar colours of animals in relation to their habits of life was published later that year. This paper was written in response to an article by 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 ...
in which he debated Darwin's theory on female choice in sexual selection. Barber fully appreciated (and had the observations to prove) that females choose males based on their phenotype
In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological proper ...
s: showy courtships, glossy plumage.
She went on to become the first female member of the Ornithologischer Verein in Vienna, the main ornithological society in Austria, and several papers of hers were translated into Hungarian.
Other activities
In the 1850s Barber assisted her older brother, Thomas Holden Bowker, in his work amassing the first collection of Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
implements in South Africa. In the 1870s Barber wrote a collection of articles about the discovery of diamonds and gold in South Africa. She also illustrated scenes from the diamond fields in several paintings.
Later life
Barber finally came into enough money to fund a visit to Europe in 1889, where she toured the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew for the first time, as well as visited scientific friends around Europe. She died in Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...
, in 1899.
Notes and references
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Mary Elizabeth
1818 births
1899 deaths
19th-century British scientists
19th-century British women artists
19th-century British women scientists
British women botanists
English biologists
English botanists
English entomologists
Women entomologists
Botanical illustrators
English illustrators
English naturalists
English ornithologists
English women artists
People from Natal
People from Wiltshire
British women illustrators
Women naturalists
19th-century English women
19th-century English people