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Mary Philadelphia Merrifield (née Watkins; 15 April 1804 – 4 January 1889) was a British writer on art and fashion. She later became an algologist (an expert on
accessed 8 Nov 2015
/ref> They later moved to Dorset Gardens, Brighton. Her husband worked as a barrister and she undertook the translation of a book on painting by the 15th-century artist
, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Retrieved 6 November 2015 In 1846 she published ''The'' ''Art of Fresco Painting'', which was a commission for the Royal Commission on the Fine Arts, being assisted by her two sons.Mary Merrifield
Brighton Museums, Retrieved 6 November 2015 In 1850 she exhibited her paintings in the first art exhibition held in Brighton's Royal Pavilion.
In 1854 she chose a different subject and published ''Dress as a Fine Art'', which supported the more practical improvements of 
In 1857 she was showing her knowledge of local history when she published ''Brighton Past and Present''. In 1857 she was honoured with a
seaweed
Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ke ...
).
Life
She was born Mary Philadelphia Watkins inBrompton, London
Brompton, sometimes called Old Brompton, survives in name as a ward in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. Until the latter half of the 19th century it was a scattered village made up mostly of market gardens in the county o ...
in 1804. Her father, Sir Charles Watkins, was a barrister who specialised in transferring property ownership. In 1826/7, she married John Merrifield and gave birth in 1827 to a son, Charles Watkins Merrifield
Charles Watkins Merrifield FRS (20 October 1827 – 1 January 1884, Hove) was a British mathematician.
For the British Association's Section of Mechanical Science, he was in 1875 the Section's Vice-President at the Brighton meeting and then i ...
, and a second son Frederick Merrifield
Frederick Merrifield (1831 – 28 May 1924, Brighton) was an English barrister, entomologist and campaigner for women's suffrage.
Merrifield was a London attorney and clerk to the County Council of East Sussex.
An expert on Lepidoptera, he was e ...
in 1831.Adrian Rice, 'Merrifield, Charles Watkins (1827–1884)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 201accessed 8 Nov 2015
/ref> They later moved to Dorset Gardens, Brighton. Her husband worked as a barrister and she undertook the translation of a book on painting by the 15th-century artist
Cennino Cennini
Cennino d'Andrea Cennini (c. 1360 – before 1427) was an Italian painter influenced by Giotto. He was a student of Agnolo Gaddi in Florence. Gaddi trained under his father, called Taddeo Gaddi, who trained with Giotto.
Cennini was born i ...
. The book, ''Treatise of Painting'', was published in 1844.Mary Merrifield, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Retrieved 6 November 2015 In 1846 she published ''The'' ''Art of Fresco Painting'', which was a commission for the Royal Commission on the Fine Arts, being assisted by her two sons.Mary Merrifield
Brighton Museums, Retrieved 6 November 2015 In 1850 she exhibited her paintings in the first art exhibition held in Brighton's Royal Pavilion.
In 1854 she chose a different subject and published ''Dress as a Fine Art'', which supported the more practical improvements of Amelia Bloomer
Amelia Jenks Bloomer (May 27, 1818 – December 30, 1894) was an American newspaper editor, women's rights and temperance advocate. Even though she did not create the women's clothing reform style known as bloomers, her name became associa ...
. Her approach challenged stereotypes, showing that fashion was a subject capable of scientific study. She demonstrated that people who were interested in fashion could aspire to academic interest.
In 1857 she was showing her knowledge of local history when she published ''Brighton Past and Present''. In 1857 she was honoured with a civil list pension
Pensions in the United Kingdom, whereby United Kingdom tax payers have some of their wages deducted to save for retirement, can be categorised into three major divisions - state, occupational and personal pensions.
The state pension is based on ...
of £100 per year. She used her location at Brighton to research ''A Sketch of the Natural History of Brighton'' which, together with later scientific papers, made her an expert on seaweed. In the 1870s she published more papers on natural history. She was so interested in corresponding with the naturalist Jacob Georg Agardh
Jacob Georg Agardh (8 December 1813 in Lund, Sweden – 17 January 1901 in Lund, Sweden) was a Swedish botanist, phycologist, and taxonomist.
He was the son of Carl Adolph Agardh, and from 1854 until 1879 was professor of botany at Lund Univer ...
that she learnt Swedish. Agardh returned the compliment by naming an Australian algae, ''Rytiphlaea Merrifieldiae'' (aka Nanopera merrifieldiae), after her.
She continued to publish papers in the British scientific journal ''Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...
''. She also worked arranging natural history displays at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery.
Death and legacy
Merrifield died a widow at her daughter's house in Stapleford on 4 January 1889. Her plant collections are now held by theNatural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...
in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
, with some examples in the Booth Museum of Natural History in Brighton.Her son, Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
* Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* Frederi ...
, was later Chair of Brighton School of Art, while one of granddaughters Margaret Verrall became a classical scholar, and another, Flora Merrifield, was a campaigner for women's suffrage in Sussex.Elizabeth Crawford, ''The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Britain & Ireland: A Regional Survey'', (Oxford & New York: Routledge, 2006), pp.205-206. . Mary's work was the subject of a display in Brighton's Booth Museum of Natural History in 2019.
Works
* ''Treatise of Painting'' (translation) - 1844 * ''The Art of Fresco Painting'' - 1846 *''Original Treatises on the Arts of Painting'' - 1849 *''Practical Directions for Portrait Painting in Watercolours'' - 1851 * ''Dress as a Fine Art'' - 1854 *''Handbook of Light and Shade with Reference to Model Drawing'' - 1855 *''Brighton Past and Present'' - 1857 *''A Sketch of the Natural History of Brighton'' - 1864References
External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrifield, Mary 1804 births 1889 deaths People from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Victorian women writers 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British writers Mary 19th-century women scientists