Over the next twenty years Mary went on to further dramatic discoveries in the treacherous Jurassic mudslides at Black Ven, helping to transform our understanding of geological time and evolution in an age when Biblical creationism still held sway. Despite her expertise, as a woman of little education from an impoverished background she had no hope of being accepted into the scientific elite, although they were happy enough to visit her at Lyme and let her guide them on local expeditions. Most of her life she quite literally scratched a living, selling her own fossil finds from a local shop and was immortalised in the famous, if slightly disparaging, tongue-twister She sells seashells on the sea shore. The shells she sells are seashells, I'm sure.
As a child I always imagined myself making a spectacular find of my own whenever we went anywhere with rocks and cliffs. My parents lived briefly in Lyme Regis and we spent a happy day in Mary's footsteps. Somewhere I still have the fragment of ammonite I found that day.
Have you read 'The Dinosaur Hunters' by Deborah Cadbury? This begins with Mary Anning, though is mostly a story of two men's rivalry relating to dinosaur fossils. It is a marvellous history - accessible, exciting and with a real sense of character. I was very struck by Mary Anning's story, and I have vague memories of there being some tragedy in her early life to do with lightning - though I may have that completely wrong.
ReplyDeleteHello Ben. Yes I read Deborah Cadbury's book a long time ago and agree that it is a compelling read. You remembered right about the lightning story which has become part of Lyme lore. The story goes that Mary Anning was in the arms of her nurse watching a local pageant when she (the nurse) was struck by lightning and killed along with two other women. I also remember a story about Mary's dog being killed in a mudslide while guarding one of her fossil finds.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about Mary Anning on your blog. It inspired me to research her further. I found an interesting article which brings the fossil hunters right up to date on: http://www.lymeregis.com/ichthyosaur_find/
ReplyDeleteThank you Madzia. It's good to see that dramatic finds are still being made at Lyme and Charmouth. I see the entire 'Jurassic coast' is now a designated world heritage site. I imagine that amateur fossil hunting there is more tightly controlled these days. The cliffs are very dangerous and heavily eroded. I wonder if there is a good biography of Mary Anning.
ReplyDeleteI have found an article which mentions the nurse being killed by lightning and some really good links to information about Mary. http://www.strangescience.net/anning.htm
ReplyDeleteThere's a good novel by Tracy Chevalier called Remarkable Creatures, about Mary Anning. And a substantial section of the author's website, focusing on the book - http://www.tchevalier.com/remarkablecreatures/story/index.html
ReplyDeleteThank you both for the links. And I adore the pebble plesiosaur!
ReplyDeleteI spent a lovely holiday at Lyme Regis and on the beach at Charmouth just after the spectacular cliff collapse in summer 2009. There were signs everywhere saying keep out, it was too dangerous, but the place was teeming with fossil hunters regardless - myself included. Found a tiny wee stone like thing with the imprint of what looked like a little creature's foot. The fossil shops are fab - if more than a tad expensive.
ReplyDeleteI confess I would probably have been heedless of the warning signs too. Personal safety aside, there must be significant environmental damage not to mention the prospect of keen, but not especially knowledgeable (myself included), hunters unwittingly ruining a really important find by tramping all over the area. It's a shame, but I suppose understandable, that the fossil shops have cashed in on the burgeoning interest in fossils and rocks as bits of art. They are trying to make a living just as Mary Anning did. There's nothing quite like the feeling of finding your own though. Your tiny footprint sounds like a real treasure.
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