Lilian Clarke (27 January 1866 – 12 February 1934) was a botany teacher at

James Allen's Girls' School James Allen's Girls' School, abbreviated JAGS, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school situated in Dulwich, South London, England. Founded in 1741, it is the second oldest girls’ independent school in Great Britain, with ...

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of H ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

from 1896 to 1926, where she developed

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

s, which became known as 'The Botany Gardens'.

Early life and education

She was born on 27 January 1866 to Benjamin Clarke, a philanthropist. At the age of nineteen she was awarded the

Society of Apothecaries The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London is one of the livery companies of the City of London. It is one of the largest livery companies (with over 1,600 members in 2012) and ranks 58th in their order of precedence. The society is a me ...

gold medal for her botanical studies undertaken at

Chelsea Physic Garden The Chelsea Physic Garden was established as the Apothecaries' Garden in London, England, in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries to grow plants to be used as medicines. This four acre physic garden, the term here referring to the scie ...

and completed her BSc. Degree in 1893, after studying botany under Professor F.W. Oliver at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Clarke become a Fellow of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...

, elected in one of the first groups of women Fellows during the period 1904–1905, following the announcement to admit women and was also active in the

British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a Charitable organization, charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Scienc ...

, serving as secretary of the Educational Section from 1921 to 1926. In 1917 the degree of Doctor of Science, for a thesis on the botanical education she had developed at

, was conferred on Clarke by The University of London.

The Botany Gardens

The Botany Gardens were an outdoor laboratory, the first such at a school in the UK, where subjects such as plant growth and pollination could be observed. Clarke encouraged her pupils to make their own books rather than use textbooks. When the

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

of plants took precedence over knowledge of 'the natural orders' in examinations, Clarke, supported by the eminent British ecologist Arthur George Tansley, created a new series of beds in her garden to replicate examples of British habitats, such as

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

and pebble beach. The support of William Hales, curator of

from 1899 to 1937 to Clarke is recorded in her publication, ''The Botany Gardens Of The James Allen's Girls' School, Dulwich: Their History And Organisation'', published by the London Board of Education.Clarke 1922 Clarke describes the plants at the edge of the pond: Clarke goes on to say that: 'The pond has proved a great success and of the utmost value in our lessons.' Significantly, for contemporary botanical educators, Clarke also stated, in a book published posthumously, that the gardens 'have become, in many cases, out-of-door laboratories, and the work indoors and out of doors is one.'Clarke 1935: vii Clarke communicated with representatives of the professional botanical community and worked hard to be visible in the wider scientific milieu of her time. Clarke died in a nursing home on 12 February 1934.

References

Sources

* Brenchley, W. (1934) Dr. Lilian Clarke (Obituary), ''Nature'', March 24 *Clarke, L. (1922) The Botany Gardens of James Allen's Girls' School, Dulwich: Their History and Organisation. London: London Board of Education *Clarke, L., 1935. Botany as an Experimental Science in Laboratory and Garden, Oxford: Oxford University Press. *Fogg, E. (1934) Lilian J. Clarke obituary, ''Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London'' October 1933- May 1934, London: Linnean Society *Linnean Society. ''Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London'' 1904–1905. London: Linnean Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Lilian 1866 births 1934 deaths Alumni of University College London English botanists Schoolteachers from London Fellows of the Linnean Society of London