To say that Mary Horner Lyell’s life as a geologist was subsumed by her famous husband Sir Charles Lyell is an understatement. And yet her accomplishments as a geologist and her other specialty conchology were obvious to most who knew her, certainly to her husband who by all accounts relied heavily on her help in the field and with publications and teaching, and to the cadre of science acquaintances who Charles Lyell worked and communication with. This is the consensus of most articles written about her life and scientific works.
Despite the general approbation, I have found Mary Lyell’s life and influence to be one of the more difficult to write about because many existing accounts provide little or no corroborating evidence. Some of her correspondence has survived which provides insight, as well as comments and accolades in letters to Charles Lyell and his contemporaries. For example, Geir Hestmark (2011) cites three letters written by Mary during her travels in Norway, but these deal mostly with her perceptions of Norwegian landscapes, people she met, and shells she collected, but few insights into her scientific aspirations.
Other articles have focused on involvement in her husband’s work and his network of geologists (listed information from various source including Leonard Wilson, 1970, 1972; Dana Hunter, 2013):
- Like her husband, she was an inveterate traveler, accompanying Charles in the field throughout Britain, the Continent, and the United States.
- She wrote, or rewrote his field notes, sketched geological structures, collected and categorized his samples, transcribed and organized his lectures. It is often quoted that Charles relied heavily on her abilities and assistance. Between 1824 and 1854 he presented 42 papers to the Geological Society (Smalley et al., 2010; PDF) and there is little doubt that his wife was involved in many of the details of data collection and publication editing.
- She was involved in discussions with renowned scientists like geologists Louis Agassiz (also corresponding with his wife Elizabeth Agassiz), Charles Darwin, botanist Joseph Hooker, paleontologist George Sowerby, and astronomer Sir John Herschel, and clearly felt comfortable corresponding with these people.
- Mary Lyell discussed fossil identifications and supplied specimens to Darwin (barnacles are mentioned specifically).
“My dear Mrs. Lyell, “I am much obliged for the Barnacles; the one marked Bergen is the right one; but it seems I must give it “locality unknown”: I do not think anyone could have called it a Conia. You shall have your specimens back, but having now passed your new shell, I shd like to leave it, till I go over all the genera again, which will be sometime hence, but I will pledge myself that your shells are returned.” To Mary Elizabeth Lyell, 4 October 1847 from Charles Darwin, Cambridge University Darwin Correspondence Project.
- She accompanied her husband at special meetings of the Geological Society of London. This in itself is interesting because the Society did not formally admit women as members or attendance at meetings until 1901 when Archibald Geikie boldly entered a meeting with two women colleagues. In 1832, the date of Lyell’s entry shown below, women were not allowed to ordinary or extraordinary meetings. However, records show that from 1860-1862 women could accompany male fellows and it seems that Mary may have taken advantage of this brief respite (Records of the Geological Society of London);
“Wednesday. — Grand disputes at the Geological Society about the propriety of admitting ladies to my lectures. Babbage most anxious to bring his mother and daughter and Lady Guildford; Harris to bring Lady Mary Kerr; and so on. I begged them all not to do so, and they promised; but at last Murchison said, ‘ M y wife, however, must come. I promised to bring her, and she would be much disappointed. I will not bring her till the doors are closed.’ Then they all declared they would too, and so bring the affair to a crisis one way or other.” May 2, 1832. Life, Letters and Journals of Sir Charles Lyell, Bart. 1881, p.381.
- Mary collected and studied land snails from Canary Islands (1853) – a scientific pursuit that other commentators have compared with Darwin’s study of Galapagos finches. Extensive documentation of Charles Lyell’s correspondence by Leonard Wilson (1970) records Reverend Richard Lowe in 1833 describing 71 species of land snail from the Madeira and Canary groups of islands. Lowe commented that species on one island or group of islands separated by only a few 10s of kilometres did not occur on neighbouring islands. Both Lyells arrived in Madeira in December 1853, and Wilson notes that “…, Lyell seems already to have been alerted to the importance of the land shells, because Lady Lyell immediately began to make a collection of the living species.” (Wilson, p. xxxix).
- Other correspondence by Lyell notes his wife’s expertise in many aspects of conchology, as in this example in a letter penned to William Dawson, a prominent Canadian geologist, where he mentions meeting Sir William Logan (the first Director General of the Geological survey of Canada), and then discusses bivalve identifications, noting “The Petricola Mrs. Lyell says is not P. pholadiformis but new to her.” (Through Lyell’s Eyes; Charles Lyell, Geologist).
- She was fluent in French and German, and capable in Spanish and Swedish. Her husband put these skills to good use for translation of publications in these languages.
Many of these accomplishments are noted in correspondence, some are mentioned by Charles Lyell in his Life, Letters, and Journals. But there are also omissions that make any attempt to verify her work difficult. I have not found a single acknowledgment to her in any of Charles Lyell’s major publications – The Principles (after 1832, when they were married), The Elements of Geology, or A Manual of Geology, despite her being involved in many aspects of their production. I’ve searched unsuccessfully for any citation of her work on Canary Islands land snails – apparently she did not publish this work; for example, more recent publications on this topic mention her husband’s name but no formal reference to Mary is given. Leonard Wilson’s book mentions her only twice in the preface and not in the remaining text –however, there are many references to Charles Lyell’s deliberations on the endemic nature of the Canary Islands shells.
Mary Lyell’s entire life was imbued with geology. She never attended university in search of a degree but continual exposure to scientific practice and discourse bolstered an inquisitive personality, resulting in a knowledge of geology and conchology equaling that of many male colleagues. Her father, Leonard Horner, was a professor of geology and ardent supporter of education reform that included women as students. He was a strong advocate for women attending lectures at Kings College, London. Leonard Horner was also a member of the Geological Society of London, and its President in 1845 – 1847 and 1860 – 1862. She was twice married to Charles Lyell in 1832, first in Bonn, Germany and again (to make certain of its legality) at Kirriemuir, Scotland on the 28th September 1832. Charles Lyell was one of the best-known geologists of that period – he too was President of the Geological Society from 1835-1837, and 1849 – 1851. He received both Wollaston and Copley medals, two of the Society’s highest honours. He was also a member or patron of several other societies. Mary’s experience of the Geological Society was mostly second-hand, but she certainly was exposed to and became an integral part of the social networks and connections that this and other learned societies provided.
There is no doubt that Mary Lyell possessed the intellectual and practical skills noted by other commentators. And although she has frequently been passed on as “another wife of so and so”, eclipsed by history’s elevation of her husband, there can be little doubt that Charles Lyell’s life would have been much different and probably less productive if she had not been his partner.
References and other links
Katharine M. Lyell, 1881. Life, Letters, and Journals of Sir Charles Lyell, Bart. Edited by his Sister-in-Law, Mrs. Lyell, Vol. I. London, John Murray, 475 p. (PDF from Internet Archive).
Leonard G Wilson. 1970. Sir Charles Lyell’s Scientific Journals on the Species Question. Yale University, 572 p.
Leonard G Wilson. 1972. Charles Lyell – The Years to 1841: The Revolution in Geology. New Have, Yale University Press, 533 p.
Ian Smalley, Slobodan Markovic, Ken O’Hara-Dhand, 2010. Charles Lyell from 1832 to 1835: marriage, Principles, 2 trips to Heidelberg, snails and loess. Central European Journal of Geosciences, v. 2, p.15-18.
Geir Hestmark, 2011. The meaning of ’metamorphic’ – Charles & Mary Lyell in Norway, 1837. Norwegian Journal of Geology, Vol 91, p. 247-275. PDF.
Dana Hunter, 2013. Mary Horner Lyell: “A Monument of Patience”. Scientific American.
Cambridge University Darwin Correspondence Project.
Chonchology – Shellers From the Past and the Present.
Records of the Geological Society of London; Series GB 378 GSL/OM – Ordinary Meetings of the Geological Society of London.
Through Lyell’s Eyes; Charles Lyell, Geologist. Reconstructing Order: Collaboration and Complexity within Sir Charles Lyell’s Archival Legacy. University of Edinburgh.
