Mary Anning By Jennifer Grech

Mary was born on 21 May 1799 into a humble family in Lyme Regis, on the Dorset coast. She and her brother Joseph were the only survivors among 10 children born to Richard Anning and his wife Mary Moore.

Named after a sister who died in a house fire, Mary herself survived a lightning strike that killed three others. Legend had it the lightning turned her into a bright and observant child.

Her father Richard was a carpenter and cabinet-maker who taught his daughter how to look for and to clean fossils. They sold the ‘curiosities’ they collected from a stall on the seafront, they found customers among the middle classes who flocked to Lyme in summer.

Their shop was such a feature of the area that some people think that Mary was the inspiration for the well-known tongue-twister 'She sells seashells on the seashore', which was written by Terry Sullivan in1908.

The family remained very poor though and when Richard died in 1810 aged only 44, as a result of consumption and injuries following a fall, it brought great hardship. Young Mary supplemented their meagre income by continuing the trade. She had a good eye for fossils. The cliffs and foreshore at Lyme are rich in belemnites and ammonites, and occasionally reptiles and fishes, deposited from Jurassic seas 200 million years ago.  Waves from the sea and landslides constantly exposed new supplies. There were good pickings but it was a dangerous living – mudflows, treacherous tides, unstable cliffs and unforgiving sea

Mary was literate, despite having only a little education Mary was literate, despite having only a little education. She taught herself geology and anatomy. She was visited by, and corresponded with, eminent scientists of the time.  Her opinions were sought and she was acknowledged as an expert in many areas, including on the rather unglamorous coprolites (fossil faeces). 

Mary also made the discovery that ink from squid-like belemnites can be ground up and used for drawing.

Her life revolved around Lyme Regis Her life revolved around Lyme Regis. She only left once in her lifetime, for a short trip to London. Her picture shows a middle aged woman, carrying with her hammer, accompanied by her dog, Tray.

Mary died from cancer, aged 47 Mary died from cancer, aged 47. For one with such disadvantaged beginnings, she had gained the respect and imagination of scientific and lay public who gave her recognition in her lifetime.  Nine years before her death she was given an annuity, or annual payment, raised by members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and the Geological Society of London. 

She was the first honorary member of the new Dorset County Museum.  Her death in 1847 was recorded by the Geological Society (which did not admit women until 1904) and her life commemorated by a stained glass window in the local church.