Mary Wyatt
{{Short description|British Botanist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mary Wyatt
| birth_date = 1789
| death_date = {{death date and age|1871|1789}}
| death_place = Devon, England
| occupation = Botanist, phycologist, retailer
| notable_works = Algae Danmonienses or Dried Specimens of Marine Plants, Principally Collected in Devonshire; Carefully Named According to Dr. Hooker's British Flora (1834-1841)
}}
Mary Wyatt (1789–1871){{Cite web |title=Wyatt, Mary {{!}} International Plant Names Index |url=https://www.ipni.org/a/35136-1 |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=www.ipni.org}}{{Cite web |title=50 Treasures: British Marine Algae |url=https://jculibrarynews.blogspot.com/2020/03/50-treasures-british-marine-algae.html |access-date=2022-07-31 |publisher=James Cook University Library |website=jculibrarynews.blogspot.com}} was a British botanist, phycologist and retailer from Torquay, Devon.{{Cite web |title=Amelia Warren Griffiths (1768-1858) |url=https://rammuseum.org.uk/collections/collectors/amelia-warren-griffiths/ |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=RAMM |language=en-GB}}{{Cite book |last=Desmond |first=Ray |url=http://archive.org/details/greatnaturalhist00desm |title=Great natural history books and their creators |date=2003 |publisher=London, UK : British Library ; New Castle, DE : Oak Knoll Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-7123-4774-7}} She was the compiler of the respected Algae Danmonienses - a collection, i.e. exsiccata, of seaweeds{{Cite book |last=Howe |first=Bea |url=http://archive.org/details/antiquesfromvict0000howe |title=Antiques from the Victorian home |date=1989 |publisher=London : Spring Books |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-600-56279-5}}{{Cite web |title=Algae Danmonienses or dried specimens of marine plants, principally collected in Devonshire; carefully named according to Dr. Hooker's British Flora: IndExs ExsiccataID=1648242431 |website=IndExs - Index of Exsiccatae |publisher=Botanische Staatssammlung München|url=https://www.botanischestaatssammlung.de/DatabaseClients/IndExs/Exsiccatae_IndExs_Details.jsp?ExsiccataID=1648242431 |access-date=9 May 2024}} to which William Henry Harvey later considered his Manual of the British Algae (1841) a 'companion' work.{{Cite web |title=Amelia Warren Griffiths (1768-1858) |url=https://rammuseum.org.uk/collections/collectors/amelia-warren-griffiths/ |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=RAMM |language=en-GB}} Wyatt helped to fuel the Victorian 'seaweed craze' for collecting.{{Cite web |last=Oatman-Stanford |first=Hunter |title=When Housewives Were Seduced by Seaweed |url=https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/when-housewives-were-seduced-by-seaweed/ |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=Collectors Weekly |language=en}} The tongue twister 'She Sells Seashells on the Sea Shore' was possibly inspired by Wyatt and her close companion Amelia Griffiths, with whom she collected seaweed and sea shells in Devon.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Colleen |date=2021-12-04 |title=Torquay spectacle sheds new light on town |url=https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/new-torquay-spectacle-throws-light-6253443 |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=DevonLive |language=en}}
Life
Mary Wyatt was born in 1789 and, from humble beginnings, went on to be a respected collector and proprietor of seaweeds and sea shells, with a shop in Torquay. Wyatt had worked as a servant for the family of phycologist and seaweed collector Amelia Warren Griffiths, who encouraged Wyatt to pursue her own work in the field.{{Cite ODNB |title=Griffiths [née Rogers], Amelia Warren (1768–1858), phycologist and seaweed collector |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-59318 |access-date=2022-07-31 | year=2004 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/59318| isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }} Wyatt accompanied Griffiths on her collecting expeditions, learning from her, but has been described as otherwise 'quite illiterate' having had no other formal education.
Wyatt opened her shop at 7 Torwood Row, Torquay selling corals, dried seaweeds, mosses, and other seaside souvenirs.{{Cite book |last=Blewitt |first=Octavian |url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/The_panorama_of_Torquay%2C_a_descriptive_and_historical_sketch_of_the_district_comprised_between_the_Dart_and_Teign_%28IA_panoramaoftorqua00blew%29.pdf |title=PANORAMA OF TORQUAY, DESCRIPTIVE AND HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE DISTRICT COMPRISED BETWEEN THE DART AND TEIGN |publisher=Simkin and Marshall and Cockrem |year=1832 |edition=2nd |location=London}} This helped to support her and her husband, who was a "permanent invalid". According to Bea Howe, it was at the suggestion of botanist William Henry Harvey that Wyatt began to prepare a named collection of seaweeds, supervised by Griffiths. Ultimately, Wyatt produced five volumes of mounted specimens of Devon marine algae titled Algae Danmonienses, published between 1833 and 1841. Each volume contained approximately 50 different species, and the supplement included examples from Cornwall, as well as from Devonshire: a further 36 species.{{Cite web |title=WYATT, Mary. Algae Danmonienses, or Dried Specimens of Marine Plants, principally collected in Devonshire. Torquay: Cockrem for the author, [1834-1840]. |url=https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-3056475 |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=www.christies.com |language=en}} Each specimen was named and numbered according William Jackson Hooker's British Flora, and other works on British algae, with a short description of the habitat and locality where the seaweed is found, and an indication of its rarity. These sold well, contributing to the popularity of seaweed collecting at seaside resorts in early Victorian Britain.{{Cite web |last=MV |date=2014-08-01 |title=The Queen of seaweeds » History & Community |url=https://www.marshwoodvale.com/history-community/2014/08/the-queen-of-seaweeds/ |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=Marshwood Vale Magazine |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Nature Domesticated: A Victorian Seaweed Scrapbook |url=https://victorianweb.org/science/biology/carrington.html |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=victorianweb.org}} The Journal of Botany called them "remarkable".
Algae Danmonienses: or dried specimens of Marine Plants, principally collected in Devonshire by Mary Wyatt; carefully named according to Dr. Hooker's British Flora
Death and legacy
Mary Wyatt died in 1871, aged 82.
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh holds collections gathered by Wyatt between 1833 and 1840.{{Cite web |last=Edinburgh |first=Royal Botanic Garden |title=Algae {{!}} Our Collections {{!}} Science & Conservation |url=https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/herbarium/our-collections/algae/ |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=www.rbge.org.uk |language=en}} The work of Wyatt and Griffiths, 'an active collaboration, as they scrambled across rocky shores in cumbersome skirts, compared notes and exchanged specimens in real time', has been explored by Frankie Dytor as part of 'Out and About: Queering the Museum':{{Cite web |title=Amelia Grifffiths' Seaweed Collection {{!}} Out and About |date=28 April 2021 |url=https://outandabout.exeter.ac.uk/2021/04/28/amelia-grifffiths-seaweed-collection/ |access-date=2022-07-31 |language=en-GB}} a National Lottery Heritage-funded project focused on uncovering and celebrating LGBTQ+ heritage among the collections of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery (RAMM) in Exeter.{{Cite web |title=Overview {{!}} Out and About |url=https://outandabout.exeter.ac.uk/overview/ |access-date=2022-07-31 |language=en-GB}}