Elizabeth Caroline Hamilton Gray (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Johnstone; 3 April 1800 – 21 February 1887) was a Scottish historian and travel author, born in

Alva, Clackmannanshire Alva (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ailbheach'', meaning rocky) is a small town in Clackmannanshire, set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is one of a number of towns situated immediately to the south of the Ochil Hills, collectively referred to as t ...

, as the eldest daughter of James Raymond Johnstone and Mary Elizabeth Cholmeley. She was the granddaughter of the colonial businessman John Johnstone. After marrying John Hamilton Gray, a priest and genealogist, in June 1829, Gray moved to

Bolsover Castle Bolsover Castle is in the town of Bolsover (), in the north-east of the English county of Derbyshire. Built in the early 17th century, the present castle lies on the earthworks and ruins of the 12th-century medieval castle; the first structure ...

in England, where she lived until shortly before her death.

Research

Gray became interested in the history of the Etruscans after visiting an exhibition of their artefacts in London organised by Domenico Campanari in 1837. She pursued the subject on a visit to Italy in 1837–1839, drawing on contacts in German and Italian archaeological circles. In 1840 she published ''Tour to the Sepulchres of Etruria'', which served as a travelogue and an account of her archaeological research. She then wrote a general ''History of Etruria'': the first two volumes in 1843–1844 and the third in 1868. As a woman, Hamilton Gray faced criticism for engaging in historical research. In an 1844 review of her work,

Samuel Ferguson Sir Samuel Ferguson (10 March 1810 – 9 August 1886) was an Irish poet, barrister, antiquarian, artist and public servant. He was an acclaimed 19th-century Irish poet, and his interest in Irish mythology and early Irish history can be seen ...

remarked that "any deep or earnest investigation of matters connected with the social institution of a gentile nation is not properly within the female province." This review was sometimes mistakenly attributed to the explorer George Dennis, who also wrote about the Etruscans. Other than her research on Etruria, Gray wrote a work on the classical and early medieval church and empire, and two popular children's histories of Rome. She and her husband maintained a collection of antiquities acquired both from dealers in Italy and from her own excavations. It included an unusual red-and-black Etruscan

amphora An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...

in an Italo-Geometric style, known as the "Hamilton Gray vase". Elizabeth Caroline Gray died in London on 21 February 1887.

Works

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1843 ed.
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Vol. 123
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1858 ed.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Elizabeth Caroline 1800 births 1887 deaths 19th-century Scottish women writers Scottish travel writers British women travel writers British women historians British women archaeologists Historians of antiquity British classical archaeologists People from Alva, Clackmannanshire People from Bolsover Linguists of Etruscan