Anne Elizabeth Ball (1808–1872) was an Irish

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, amateur algologist, and

botanical illustrator Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species. They are generally meant to be scientifically descriptive about subjects depicted and are often found printed alongside a botanical description in boo ...

. Born in

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. With a population of 14,148 inhabitants at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, Cobh is on the south si ...

1808, Ball was a sister of naturalist Robert Ball and zoologist Mary Ball (1812–1898). The siblings became interested in

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

through the passion of their father, Bob Stawell Ball.

Background

In 1818, Anne Ball moved from her birthplace of

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the Munster Blackwater, River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long ...

, another seaport town in County Cork, with her family and it was here that Ball, in her early twenties, began to collect and study marine algae. In 1837, her sister and father moved away from Cork to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, where she resided until her death. Anne continued her algae collecting in Dublin and, although not a member of the Dublin scientific societies, Anne established herself as a successful algologist. However, as was then the custom, her work was published by male naturalists such as

William Henry Harvey William Henry Harvey, FRS FLS (5 February 1811 – 15 May 1866) was an Irish botanist and phycologist who specialised in algae. Biography Harvey was born at Summerville near Limerick, Ireland, in 1811, the youngest of 11 children. His father ...

(a friend of her brother's), James Mackay, and others. However these relationships were not entirely one-sided.

William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions to anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, pulmonary and systemic circulation ...

supported and encouraged her work, naming the genus ''Ballia'' and the species ''Cladophora balliana'' for her. Ball collected the original specimen of ''Cladophora balliana'' on 16 May 1843 at Clontarf. They also collaborated on Harvey's ''Phycologia Britannica'' (1846–1851). Ball also contributed illustrated records of

hydroids Hydroids are a life stage for most animals of the class Hydrozoa, small predators related to jellyfish. Some hydroids such as the freshwater '' Hydra'' are solitary, with the polyp attached directly to the substrate. When these produce buds, ...

to William Thompson and these were published in volume four of '' The Natural History of Ireland'' in 1856.

Legacy

Ball died at home in Belmont Avenue, Dublin, in 1872. Her extant collections were later housed in the herbaria at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

; at the Royal (later Irish National) Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, which acquired her drawings of seaweeds and fungi; at the

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasures ...

; and her letters and plants at

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

The specimens deposited at Kew Gardens were, most likely, transferred to the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

, London around 1961 under the terms of the Morton Agreement.

References

External links

Botanical specimens collected by Anne Elizabeth Ball
Botanical Society of the British Isles {{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Anne Elizabeth 1808 births 1872 deaths Irish botanical illustrators 19th-century Irish botanists People from Cobh Phycologists Women phycologists 19th-century Irish women scientists 19th-century Irish painters People from Youghal Scientists from County Cork Artists from County Cork