Mary Maria Fielding (''née'' Simpson; 25 January 1804 – 22 February 1895), baptised on 22 May 1804, was a British

botanist 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 wo ...

and botanical illustrator. She was the daughter of John Simpson, a merchant from Lancaster. She was the wife of fellow botanist

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel '' Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...

, whom she married in Liverpool on 21 December 1826. A native of

Lancaster, Lancashire Lancaster (, ) is a city and the county town of Lancashire, England, standing on the River Lune. Its population of 52,234 compares with one of 138,375 in the wider City of Lancaster local government district. The House of Lancaster was a bran ...

, between 1830 and 1833 she produced six volumes of botanical watercolours which have been cited as an "important source for the study of the county's flora in the early nineteenth century". The volumes, consisting of about 530 botanical watercolours ended up in Oxford University and in thanks the university gave her brother an M.A. In 1843, Fielding, her husband Henry, and George Gardner, published ''Sertum plantarum'', which Mary produced illustrated descriptions for, documenting some 75 new or rare plants. She lived in Church Street, Lancaster in her last decades.

References

1804 births 1895 deaths British botanists British women botanists British botanical illustrators British women illustrators People from Lancaster, Lancashire {{UK-botanist-stub