Jacqueline Nancy Mary Adams (19 May 1926 – 27 March 2007) was a New Zealand

botanical illustrator Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species, frequently in watercolor paintings. They must be scientifically accurate but often also have an artistic component and may be printed with a botanical ...

and

museum curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

Early life

Nancy Adams was born in Levin in 1926, the daughter of Jessie Whittaker and her husband, Kenneth Ernest Adams (grandson of early amateur botanist James Adams.) Adams' parents separated while she was still young and she grew up in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

with her maternal grandparents, the proprietors of the

Whittaker's J.H. Whittaker & Sons, Ltd (Whittaker's) is a confectionery manufacturer specialising in palm oil-free chocolate and based in Porirua, New Zealand. Whittaker's is the largest chocolate brand in New Zealand. Approximately 30% of their productio ...

chocolate company. From early in her life Adams displayed a strong interest in both plants and drawing: ‘Right from the time I was very small, I knew somebody did the plant drawings in books. That’s what I wanted to do.’ Her interest was fostered at primary school, where her principal William Martin was an amateur botanist who taught students to draw from nature and took them on trips at

Wellington Botanical Gardens The Wellington Botanic Garden in Wellington, New Zealand covers 25 hectares of land on the side of the hill between Thorndon and Kelburn, near central Wellington. The garden features 25 hectares of protected native forest, conifers, plant c ...

. Adams attended

Wellington Girls' College Wellington Girls' College was founded in 1883 in Wellington, New Zealand. At that time it was called Wellington Girls' High School. Wellington Girls' College is a year 9 to 13 state secondary school, located in Thorndon in central Wellington. H ...

and

Victoria University College Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well k ...

, studying

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

and botany.

Career

Due to ill health, Adams did not complete her university studies. However, at 16 she joined the Botany division of New Zealand's Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR): the department was looking for staff to replace men serving in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. She worked there until 1959, when she was appointed to the Dominion Museum (now the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

) as assistant Curator of Botany with a special responsibility for algae. She retired from her position at the museum in 1987 but continued to be an Honorary Research Associate of the Museum. Adams was a prolific artist, illustrating nearly forty publications on native plants, alpine life, trees and shrubs. Included in these publications is an article written by Ella Orr Campbell, a fellow New Zealander, for whom Adams drew ''Thallus of Marchasta bearing archegoniophores''. She received international recognition for her detailed and delicate algal illustrations.

Awards and honours

Awards included the Loder Cup in 1964, and the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

. She was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for public services in the

1989 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1989 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, and a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, for services to botany, in the

1996 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1996 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other c ...

. In 1994, she received an award for her work ''Seaweeds of New Zealand: An Illustrated Guide'', which held a description of 600 different plant species and illustrating 441. She is a

Royal Society Te Apārangi The Royal Society Te Apārangi (in full, Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi) is an independent, statutory not-for-profit body in New Zealand providing funding and policy advice in the fields of sciences and the humanities. History The R ...

150 women in 150 words Fifteen or 15 may refer to: * 15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

laureate.

Bibliography

* ''Trees and shrubs of New Zealand'', by A. L. Poole and Nancy M. Adams, 1963 * ''Mountain Flowers in New Zealand'', 1980 * ''Wild Flowers in New Zealand'', 1980 * ''Seaweeds of New Zealand: An illustrated guide'', 1994

References

External links

Biography of Nancy Adams
in

Te Ara ''Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'' is an online encyclopedia established in 2001 by the New Zealand Government's Ministry for Culture and Heritage. The web-based content was developed in stages over the next several years; the first s ...

Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Biography of Nancy Adams
at

Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

Museum of New Zealand
Te Papa">Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Te Papa
Blog on Adams' work on Three Kings Islands
Interview with Kate Hannah, author of Adams' biography on Te Ara
RNZ, 27 June 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Nancy 1926 births 2007 deaths Botanical illustrators 20th-century New Zealand botanists New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Queen's Service Order People from Levin, New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand painters 20th-century New Zealand women scientists New Zealand women botanists