Ellen Marion Delf-Smith FLS (née Delf, 31 January 1883 – 23 February 1980) was a British

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 ...

Biography

Ellen Marion Delf was born to Thomas William Herbert Delf, a secretary, and Catherine Mary Delf (née Bridges) on 31 January 1883. She attended

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 ...

before studying

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

. She studied there from 1902 to 1906, holding a Clothworkers' Scholarship, and gained first class marks in both parts of the

tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

, specialising in botany. After completing her studies at Cambridge Delf took up a post at

Westfield College Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. She was tasked with setting up the teaching of botany at the college. Despite the college having no money for equipment or technicians and a poor collection of specimens, she managed to raise funds to better equip the laboratory. Her efforts led to the university approving the Westfield laboratory for preparing students for pass degree examinations in botany in 1910 and for honours degrees in 1915; moreover she was recognised as a teacher of the university in 1910. During the period from 1911 to 1916 she studied plant physiology, specifically

transpiration Transpiration is the process of water movement through a plant and its evaporation from aerial parts, such as leaves, stems and flowers. It is a passive process that requires no energy expense by the plant. Transpiration also cools plants, c ...

. She gained her

D.Sc. A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

from London in 1912 and returned to Girton in 1914 as a research fellow. Delf worked as a research assistant at the

Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, informally known as the Lister Institute, was established as a research institute (the British Institute of Preventive Medicine) in 1891, with bacteriologist Marc Armand Ruffer as its first director, ...

from December 1916 to January 1920. Her studies concerned the vitamin content of foods, including military rations, research made necessary by the

Mesopotamian campaign The Mesopotamian campaign or Mesopotamian front () was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the British Empire, with troops from United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain, Australia and the vast major ...

. In 1920 she held a temporary post investigating the nutrition, specifically the

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...

content, of mine workers' diets in the area of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, and as a result "their health was substantially improved". She also spent time in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

studying marine

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

. In 1921 Delf returned to Westfield as a lecturer in botany and stayed there for the rest of her career. She became head of the botany department in 1939 and managed its relocation to

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

during the Second World War. She retired in 1948 but continued working at Westfield as a garden steward. Later she served on the council and from the 1950 to 1955 was the president of the alumnae association; in 1955 she was elected an honorary fellow. She was a fellow of the

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

. In 1928 she married the artist Percy John Smith, taking the surname Delf-Smith. They found common interests in drawing and gardening and had a happy marriage, but Smith died in 1948. Delf-Smith died on 23 February 1980 at the age of ninety-seven.

References

External links

SMITH, Ellen Marion Delf- (1883-1980)
at AIM25.ac.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Delf-Smith, Marion 1883 births 1980 deaths British botanists Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge People educated at James Allen's Girls' School Fellows of the Linnean Society of London People associated with Westfield College Place of birth missing Alumni of the University of London British women botanists