Mary A. E. Richards ( Mary Alice Eleanor Stokes; 1885–1977) was a Welsh botanist.
Biography
Born near
Dolgellau
Dolgellau (; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Merion ...
,
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, and mainly raised in
Lichfield
Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...
,
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
, she took an early interest in natural history and studied
botany
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 ...
part-time at
Mason Science College
Mason Science College was a university college in Birmingham, England, and a predecessor college of the University of Birmingham. Founded in 1875 by industrialist and philanthropist Sir Josiah Mason, the college was incorporated into the Univer ...
(now
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
). She married
Major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
Henry ("Harry") Richards in 1907
and traveled extensively, including visits to India, Malaysia, China, Japan, Canada, and the United States of America.
Richards had three children, was active in the local
Brithdir Church (
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.
The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...
,
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...
), turned her house into a
Red Cross
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
hospital
A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...
during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, which earned her the
Royal Red Cross
The Royal Red Cross (RRC) is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. It was created in 1883, and the first two awards were to Florence Nightingale and Jane Cecilia Deeb ...
medal, became
Councillor
A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...
on the
Marioneth County Council, and botanized extensively, culminating in a co-authored publication entitled ''A Contribution to the Flora of Merioneth''.
Widowed in 1942, she traveled in 1950, to Abercorn,
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...
(now
Mbala, Zambia
Mbala is Zambia's most northerly large town and seat of Mbala District in Northern Province, Zambia, Northern Province, occupying a strategic location close to the border with Tanzania and controlling the southern approaches to Lake Tanganyika, 40& ...
), for a holiday with old friends who lived there. She requested equipment for collecting
plant
Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...
s from
Edgar Milne-Redhead
Edgar Wolston Bertram Handsley Milne-Redhead (1906-1996) was a British botanist. He was born in Frome, Somerset, UK. Educated at Cheltenham College and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, he began work at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 192 ...
at the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...
and vigorously began to collect
herbarium
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...
specimens of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
n plants at the age of 65. She eventually settled in Zambia and collected about 27,000 herbarium specimens, including many new
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
and even new
genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
, including ''
Richardsiella'' (
Poaceae
Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...
), which is named after her.
She eventually published a "Check List of the Flora of Mbala (Abercorn) and District" with W. V. Morony in 1969 but was uncomfortable with the political changes in the newly independent Zambia and moved to
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
, spending much time with conservationist
Desmond Vesey-Fitzgerald
Leslie Desmond Edward Foster-Vesey-Fitzgerald MBE (born 9 June 1909 in London, UK; died 3 May 1974 in Nairobi, Kenya), was an Irish-born entomologist, ornithologist, conservationist, and plant collector.
In 1930 Vesey-Fitzgerald graduated to Ba ...
near
Arusha National Park
The Arusha National Park (''Hifahdi ya Taifa ya Arusha'', in Swahili) is a national park of Tanzania, with the IUCN category II located within Meru District and Arusha Rural District of the Arusha Region of Tanzania that covers Mount Meru ...
.
On the nomination of the first
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
of the independent Zambia, Dr.
Kenneth Kaunda
Kenneth Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021), also known as KK, was a Zambian politician who served as the first president of Zambia from 1964 to 1991. He was at the forefront of the struggle for independence from Northern Rhodesia, British ...
, Richards was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
. At age 89, she returned to Wales, where she died in 1977.
She continued to botanize until one week after her ninetieth birthday.
On many of the labels of her plant specimens, she recorded herself as "Mrs. H. M. Richards" (for Mrs. Henry Meredyth Richards).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Mary A. E.
1885 births
1977 deaths
People from Dolgellau
People from Lichfield
Welsh botanists
Date of birth missing
Date of death missing
Place of death missing
Plant collectors