Sarah Bowdich Lee (née Wallis) (10 September 1791 – 22 September 1856) was an English author, illustrator, traveller, zoologist, botanist, and

pteridologist #REDIRECTFern 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 pter ...

Information

Sarah Lee was born on 10 September 1791, the only daughter of John Eglinton Wallis of

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

. In 1813, she married the naturalist

Thomas Edward Bowdich Thomas Edward Bowdich (20 June 179110 January 1824) was an English traveller and author. Life Bowdich was born at Bristol and educated at Bristol Grammar School. In 1813, he married Sarah Wallis, who shared his subsequent career. In 1814, thr ...

, whose interests in nature, travel, and adventure she shared. In 1819, they went to Paris to visit Baron Cuvier; Thomas had previously visited him in 1818 with a letter of introduction obtained from Dr.

William Elford Leach William Elford Leach FRS (2 February 1791 – 25 August 1836) was an English zoologist and marine biologist. Life and work Elford Leach was born at Hoe Gate, Plymouth, the son of an attorney. At the age of twelve he began a medical appre ...

of 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 ...

. They spent most of the next four years in Paris studying his collections. In 1823, on their final trip to Africa, they visited Madeira on their way, but her husband died on the

Gambia River The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra) is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward through Senegal and The Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul. It is navigabl ...

on 10 January 1824. Left with three children, she struggled to support her family as an author. Early in her widowhood, Mrs Bowdich often visited Baron Cuvier in Paris, where he treated her almost like a daughter; upon his death in 1832, she wrote a memoir of his life. In 1826, she married Robert Lee and in subsequent years published under the name Mrs. Robert Lee. In 1854, she was granted a civil list pension of £50 per year. In 1856, she died at Erith while visiting her daughter Eugenia. Of her numerous works, perhaps the four most important are ''Taxidermy'' (1820) an exhaustive treatment which came to a sixth edition in 1843; ''Excursions in Madeira and Porto Santo'' (1825), a work of natural history; ''The Fresh-Water Fishes of Great Britain'' (1825), illustrated by the author; and ''Memoirs of Baron Cuvier'' (1833).

Selected publications

* 1844. ''Elements of Natural History, for the use of schools and young persons: comprising the principles of classification, interspersed with ... account of the most remarkable animals ... Illustrated'' * 1850. ''Elements of Natural History, for the use of schools and young persons: comprising the principles of classification, interspersed with ... account of the most remarkable animals ... Illustrated'' * 1851. ''Adventures in Australia: or, the Wanderings of Captain Spencer in the bush and the wilds ... With illustrations by J.S. Prout''. xi, 364 pp., 18 pl. * 1852a. ''British Birds, with descriptions by Mrs. R. Lee ... and seven pictures from drawings by

Harrison Weir Harrison William Weir (5 May 18243 January 1906), known as "The Father of the Cat Fancy", was a British artist. He organised the first cat show in England, at the Crystal Palace, London, in July 1871. He and his brother, John Jenner Weir, b ...

'' * 1852b ''The Farm and its Scenes, with descriptions by Mrs. R. Lee ... and six pictures from drawings by Harrison Weir'' * 1853a. ''Foreign Animals, with descriptions by Mrs. R. Lee ... and seven pictures from drawings by Harrison Weir'' * 1853b. ''Anecdotes of the Habits and Instincts of Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes ... With illustrations by Harrison Weir'' * 1853c. ''Familiar Natural History, with descriptions by Mrs. R. Lee ... and ... illustrations from drawings by Harrison Weir'' * 1854. ''Trees, Plants, and Flowers: their beauties, uses, and influences ... The illustrations ... by James Andrews'' * 1867. ''The African wanderers ... Fourth edition'' * ''Foreign Birds, with descriptions by Mrs. R. Lee ... and seven pictures from drawings by Harrison Weir'' * ''Taxidermy: or, the art of collecting, preparing, and mounting objects of natural history'' * ''British Animals, with descriptions by Mrs. R. Lee ... and seven pictures from drawings by

Notes

;Attribution

References

* * Desmond, R. 1994. ''Dictionary of British & Irish Botanists & Horticulturists including Plant Collectors, Flower Painters & Garden Designers''. Taylor & Francis & The

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

External links

* *
''Memoirs of Baron Cuvier''
by Mrs. R. Lee, 1833, (London: Longman) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Sarah Bowdich 1791 births 1856 deaths English non-fiction writers English naturalists English botanists