A Divided Inheritance
Mary has been the most popular girl’s name for centuries and it is still being used today. To celebrate ten years of Female First I take a look at ten ‘Mary’s from times gone by.
1. Mary Boleyn
was the sister of King Henry VIII's second wife, the more famous Anne Boleyn. But she was also the king's mistress before her sister and may also have given birth to a son by Henry. Read more in ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ by Philippa Gregory
2. Mary Anning
In 1811, Mary Anning’s brother spotted what he thought was a crocodile skeleton in a seaside cliff in Lyme Regis. This began Mary Anning’s long career as a fossil hunter. Her most famous discovery was the ‘dinosaur’ ichthyosaurus, but she also found a pterodactyl and thousands of other fossils. Read more in ‘Remarkable Creatures’ by Tracy Chevalier
3. Mary Celeste
was not a person but the name of a fated ship. Crew members of a British vessel spotted a ship adrift in the choppy seas. The ship was empty – a ghost ship. So what happened to the ten people who had sailed aboard the Mary Celeste? Read More – ‘Mary Celeste; The Greatest Mystery of the Sea’ by Paul Begg
4. Mary Beale
Was a seventeenth century English portrait painter known for her portraits of celebrities. She was one of the first women to make her living through her painting and to run her studio as a business.
5. Mary Blair
Was a visual stylist at the famed Disney Studio during its golden age. She worked on films from 1943 to 1953; Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan, among others. She was amazingly prolific and influenced the worlds of film, print, theme parks, architectural decor, and advertising. Watch the films or read more in ‘The Art and Flair of Mary Blair’ by John Canemaker.
6. Maria Mitchell
When Maria Mitchell was only twelve, she helped her father record the time of an eclipse. By the age of seventeen, she had already begun her own school for girls, but her main claim to fame was spotting a comet through her telescope in 1847. She became the first female astronomy professor in the US in 1865. Read more – ‘Maria Mitchell: The Soul of an Astronomer’ by Beatrice Gormley
7. Mary Garber
was one of the first female sports journalists. She began writing about sports full time in 1946, covering athletics in North Carolina. She is believed to be the first female staff sports reporter at a daily paper.
8. Mary Coleridge
was a 19th century British Novelist and poet. Robert Bridges, the then Poet Laureate, described her poems as 'wonderously beautiful… but mystical rather and enigmatic'. She published five novels, the best known earned her £900 in royalties in 1897. Read some of her poems – ‘Selected Poems by Mary Coleridge’
9. Mary Harris ‘Mother Jones’
emigrated from Ireland to Michigan, and married an ironworker named Jones in 1861. From him she learned about the beginnings of the American labour movement. She was a radical activist who single-mindedly dedicated herself to improving life for working people, organising many strikes for pay and conditions. Read more – ‘Mother Jones: The Most Dangerous Woman in America’ by Elliot J Gould.
10. Mary Robinson
was dubbed "the most beautiful woman in England" in the 18th Century, and her every movement was recorded in the press, her portrait plastered everywhere. She was a Drury Lane actress and a politician’s courtesan. Read more about her in ‘Perdita: Royal Mistress, Writer, Romantic’ by Sarah Gristwood
Deborah Swift is a historical novelist. Her latest book ‘A Divided Inheritance’ comes out next week.