298:'s deliberations on the role of moths in orchid pollination. Barber was introduced to Charles Darwin by Roland Trimen, a fellow British entomologist in South Africa in 1863. Barber exchanged letters and observations with Darwin and other gentlemen-naturalists in his scientific network. Her influence on Darwin's work was communicated indirectly, via Trimen. In 1865, Mary had declared she would write to Darwin herself about "the locusts and the locust birds", but there is no record of this, despite Darwin himself being a meticulous archiver of his correspondence. In other letters, Barber seemed to concur with Darwin's theory of
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225:) ideals he carried from an era when women enjoyed a freer voice. She became one of Harvey's main suppliers of plants from South Africa and also assisted him in the naming and classification of numerous species. Over a nearly 30-year correspondence, she sent Harvey approximately 1,000 species with notes on each one. She also established a correspondence with British botanist
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I have no objection....and I don't see any reason why a Lady should in a quiet way be a member of any scientific society... I do not by any means approve of ladies coming publicly forward and usurping the places of men by preaching, making speeches, etc., but I don't see why they should not belong to
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of the Cape. Her ongoing correspondence with Harvey took place during a time when it was not generally accepted for women to engage in scientific discussion; indeed, in the beginning she did not disclose the fact that she was a woman. She enjoyed unprecedented freedom in this respect, partly because
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Barber's contributions to science were eventually rewarded in 1878 with an invitation to become a member of the South
African Philosophical Society – a singular honour at the time. The Linnean Society in London did not welcome women as members until 1905, emphasizing the progressive nature of
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Barber developed an interest in entomology while her husband was engaged in the ongoing guerilla warfare between the settlers and native
Africans. With her brother, James Henry Bowker, she began documenting African moths and butterflies, and contacted entomologist
248:
Barber made substantial contributions to botanical science of the era through her collections and scientific observations of South
African flora and fauna. This resulted in several plant species being named after her. She and her younger brother, naturalist
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Barber joined the South
African Philosophical Society on 26 June 1878. Her paper on the peculiar colours of animals in relation to their habits of life was published later that year. This paper was written in response to an article by
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implements in South Africa. In the 1870s Barber wrote a collection of articles about the discovery of diamonds and gold in South Africa. She also illustrated scenes from the diamond fields in several paintings.
356:
Barber finally came into enough money to fund a visit to Europe in 1889, where she toured the Royal
Botanic Gardens at Kew for the first time, as well as visited scientific friends around Europe. She died in
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She went on to become the first female member of the
Ornithologischer Verein in Vienna, the main ornithological society in Austria, and several papers of hers were translated into Hungarian.
232:
In 1842 she married
Frederick William Barber, an analytical chemist who had established a farm in South Africa. They had two sons and a daughter. Barber was the grandmother of the sculptor,
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in which he debated Darwin's theory on female choice in sexual selection. Barber fully appreciated (and had the observations to prove) that females choose males based on their
133:(5 January 1818 – 4 September 1899) was a pioneering British-born amateur scientist of the nineteenth century. Without formal education, she made a name for herself in
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who wished to take advantage of the South
African government's offer of 100 acres of land for every man over the age of 18. The Bowker family received land in Albany, near
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197:. Here Bowker set up a school for his children and those of this workers, and his affinity for natural history heavily influenced the lessons the children received.
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of South Africa. She sent specimens of the plant and its flowers to the Royal
Botanic Gardens at Kew, where in 1874 the specific epithet was given by
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Ladies in the
Laboratory III: South African, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian Women in Science – Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
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145:. She was also an accomplished poet and painter, and illustrated her scientific contributions that were published by learned societies such as the
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this South African society, and the impact that Barber had had on her discipline. Her reply to this invitation sums up the attitudes of the time:
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181:, Northumberland. Her father was a moderately wealthy sheep farmer, owning his own wool-processing business. In 1820 he moved his family to
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culture of her home country, but also because of her father's encouragement and the generally relaxed pre-Victorian (
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In the 1850s Barber assisted her older brother, Thomas Holden Bowker, in his work amassing the first collection of
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177:, on 5 January 1818. She was the ninth of eleven children and first daughter of Miles and Anna Maria Bowker of
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Cohen, Alan (2000). "Mary Elizabeth Barber, some early South African geologists and the discoveries of gold".
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294:(1840–1916) in 1863 to share her discoveries. Her observations are reported to have contributed to
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Mary and her brothers all shared a love of natural history, but it was the 1838 publication of the book
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that changed her life. She was fascinated by the chapters on the structure of plants and the
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The Rise of Conservation in South Africa: Settlers, Livestock, and the Environment 1770–1950
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864:"Thinking with birds: Mary Elizabeth Barber's advocacy for gender equality in ornithology"
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Cohen, Alan (2000). "Mary Elizabeth Barber: South Africa's first lady natural historian".
8:
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Cohen, Alan (1999). "Mary Elizabeth Barber, the Bowkers and South African Prehistory".
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any society that they are qualified for, and in a quiet way enjoy the privileges too."
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The Saint, the Surgeon and the Unsung Botanist: A tribute to my remarkable ancestors
269:(tree aloe) was first discovered by Barber, who was collecting plants in the former
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The genera of South African plants: arranged according to the natural system
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The genera of South African plants, arranged according to the Natural System
655:"Legacy of South Africa's First Female Botanist Reaffirmed after 147 Years"
222:
186:
32:
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Human Beginnings in South Africa: Uncovering the Secrets of the Stone Age
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Women Marching into the 21st Century: Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokodo
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138:
110:
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749:"IV. On the peculiar Colours of Animals in relation to Habits of Life"
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302:, citing the dominance of European settlers in Cape Colony as proof.
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692:. Vol. 15. Cambridge University Press. p. 116.
158:
253:, sent many previously unknown species of plants to the
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Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society
715:"Darwin's Legacy in South African Evolutionary Biology"
589:. Human Sciences Research Council. 2000. p. 225.
277:(1843–1928) in her honor. In addition, she discovered
682:(2006). Burkhardt, Frederick; Smith, Sydney (eds.).
281:(Mrs. Barber's beauty), which was named after her.
964:Biographical Database of Southern African Science
386:Biographical Database of Southern African Science
217:she was released from the relatively constraining
837:"Mary Elizabeth Barber, pioneer naturalist, dies"
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407:. bowker.info. 16 September 2007. Archived from
685:The Correspondence of Charles Darwin: 1821-1836
449:Creese, Mary R. S.; Creese, Thomas M. (2010).
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839:. South African History Online. 16 March 2011
809:Deacon, Hilary John; Deacon, Janette (1999).
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173:Barber was born Mary Elizabeth Bowker in
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713:Johnson, S. D (November–December 2009).
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563:. Oxford University Press. p. 117.
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332:: showy courtships, glossy plumage.
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1088:19th-century English women artists
1078:19th-century English women writers
998:19th-century British women artists
958:Biography of Mary Elizabeth Barber
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815:. New Africa Books. pp. 2–3.
455:. Scarecrow Press. pp. 9–12.
380:Biography of Mary Elizabeth Barber
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719:South African Journal of Science
690:Correspondence of Charles Darwin
659:Scientific American Blog Network
788:"Colours of animals and plants"
1033:British botanical illustrators
993:19th-century British botanists
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931:Hilton-Barber, David (2014).
765:10.1080/21560382.1877.9526124
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275:William Turner Thiselton-Dyer
210:Linnean classification system
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16:British naturalist, biologist
543:. Cape Town: A.S. Robertson.
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1083:19th-century English people
501:Archives of Natural History
147:Royal Entomological Society
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1068:British women illustrators
908:10.1080/10113430009511122
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163:Linnean Society of London
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874:(1). Cape Town: 85–111.
239:Contributions to science
87:Frederick William Barber
1108:Cape Colony naturalists
1008:British women botanists
786:Wallace, A. R. (1877).
175:South Newton, Wiltshire
155:Royal Botanical Gardens
54:South Newton, Wiltshire
1093:Colony of Natal people
1048:English ornithologists
862:Hammel, Tanja (2015).
747:Barber, M. E. (1877).
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259:Trinity College Dublin
234:Ivan Mitford-Barberton
1098:Cape Colony botanists
1063:People from Wiltshire
1053:English women artists
1023:English entomologists
535:Harvey, William Henry
405:"The Bowker Children"
326:Alfred Russel Wallace
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131:Mary Elizabeth Barber
25:Mary Elizabeth Barber
1038:English illustrators
935:. Footprints Press.
365:Notes and references
306:Scientific societies
266:Aloidendron barberae
227:Joseph Dalton Hooker
206:William Henry Harvey
1043:English naturalists
1028:Women entomologists
792:MacMillans Magazine
411:on 31 December 2008
1013:English biologists
725:(11–12): 403–409.
251:James Henry Bowker
204:by Irish botanist
1073:Women naturalists
1058:People from Natal
1018:English botanists
942:978-0-620-61401-6
699:978-0-521-85931-8
596:978-0-7969-1966-3
300:natural selection
279:Lotononis harveyi
189:along with other
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843:10 November
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361:, in 1899.
195:Grahamstown
183:Cape Colony
139:ornithology
111:ornithology
977:Categories
664:1 February
352:Later life
330:phenotypes
285:Entomology
169:Early life
161:, and the
143:entomology
116:entomology
46:1818-01-05
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916:1011-3436
880:2309-9585
773:2156-0382
731:0038-2353
632:0038-1969
521:0260-9541
345:Stone Age
255:herbarium
219:Victorian
179:Gateshead
56:, England
537:(1838).
271:Transkei
223:Georgian
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153:, the
151:London
135:botany
106:Botany
99:Fields
84:Spouse
920:S2CID
636:JSTOR
214:flora
962:S2A3
937:ISBN
912:ISSN
887:2016
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417:2012
384:S2A3
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62:Died
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