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Caroline Birley

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Caroline Birley
Born
Caroline Birley

(1851-11-16)16 November 1851
York Place, Oxford Road,Chorlton-on-Medlock,England
Died15 February 1907(1907-02-15)(aged 55)
Pendleton, Greater Manchester,England
Resting placeLingfieldChurch, Surrey, England
Occupation(s)Geologist and children's writer
Notable workWe are Seven
Jessamine and her Lesson Books
RelativesFrancis Birley(brother)

Caroline Birley(16 November 1851 – 15 February 1907) was an English geologist, fossil collector and children's author.[1]As a geologist, she was noteworthy, not so much for the scientific value of her collection, but for the regard with which she was held in a predominately male profession.[2]Her interest ingeologystarted with stones she collected as a child and her enthusiasm continued until her death.[3]

Family and early life

[edit]

She was born at York Place, Oxford Road in theChorlton-on-Medlockarea of Manchester,[2]the fourth and last child of Thomas Hornby Birley J.P. (1815–1885) and Anne Leatham (1820–1866).[4]

Her brother,Francis,was an amateurfootballerwho won theFA Cupthree times in the 1870s and made two appearances forEngland.[5]Her uncle wasHugh Birley,who was aConservativeMember of Parliament forManchesterfrom 1868 to 1883.[2]

In 1857, she moved with her family from York Place to Highfield inHeaton Merseyand then, in 1864, to Hart Hill Mansion,Pendleton,[2]and again to 4 Seedley Terrace in 1884.[2]

Career as a geologist

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As a child, Birley developed an interest in geology and on her family holidays on theIsle of Manshe would collect stones showing unusual peculiarities.[3]At the age of 12, she became a subscriber to theGeological Magazinein its first year of publication in 1864. At first, she paid for her subscription from her own pocket before her grandmother made her an allowance to cover the cost.[3]

In 1884, she moved from Hart Hill Mansion to nearby Seedley Terrace. Before long, her collection had outgrown her home so she erected an iron building in her garden, which she named the "Seedley Museum"; the museum was opened to the public in 1888.[2]

In 1887, Birley joined theBritish Association for the Advancement of Sciencefollowing the Association's conference in Manchester. The following year she became a life member, attending the Association's annual meetings every year until her death. In 1890, she joined theGeologists' Associationand, in 1894, she joined theMalacological Society of London,[2]founded the year before.[6]

Field trips

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Dromiopsis birleyae– a fossil crustacean discovered by Caroline Birley
Mesodromilities birleyi– fossil crab discovered by Caroline Birley

Between 1887 and 1905, Birley regularly travelled abroad to collect geological specimens, usually accompanied by her friend Louisa Copland. Thesefield tripsincluded:[2]

On her trips to Faxe in Denmark in 1888 and 1891, she collected a large amount ofLate Cretaceousfossils. In the November 1901 edition ofThe Geological Magazine,Dr.Henry Woodward(of theNatural History Museum,London) described Birley's finds[7]and named two new species of the genusDromiopsis(D. birleyaeandD. coplandae) after Birley and her friend, Louisa Copland.[2][3]In namingDromiopsis birleyae,Woodward wrote:

I dedicate this species to my friend Miss Caroline Birley, who has given so much time and attention to the study of geology and palaeontology both at home and abroad, and whose private collection bears testimony to her devotion to science.[2]

During her 1889 visit to the Faeroes, she collected six hundredweight of rocks containingzeolitesfrom the islands ofStreymoy,NólsoyandEysturoy.[3]In 1891, she and Louisa Copland contributed an article on the flora of the Faeroe Islands toThe Journal of Botany.[2][8]In September 1899, she discovered a new genus and species of crab in thegaultclays atFolkestone,Kent; Woodward described this inThe Geological Magazineand named itMesodromilites birleyae.[2][3][9]

She also visitedOrmarain Baluchistan (nowBalochistanin western Pakistan); her collection offossiliferousnodules was given toRichard Bullen Newtonwho described them in detail in the July 1905 edition ofThe Geological Magazine,[3][10]with Woodward adding a further note.[11]

Children's author

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Jessamine and her Lesson Books(1887)
Jack Frost's Little Prisoners(1887)

She wrote several books for children,[12]many of which were published by theSociety for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge.[2]Her books include:[13][14][15][16]

  • We are Seven(1879)[17][18]
  • A Heap of Stones(1881)[19][20]
  • Undine; a Romance of Modern Days; and Other Stories(1883)[21][22]
  • Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be? A Tale of Churchill Wakes(1883)[23][24]
  • Eyes to the Blind: A tale(1886)[25]
  • Gerald's Rescue(1886)
  • Jessamine and her Lesson Books, and How She Missed the Gipsey Tea(1887)[26][27][28]
  • The Linen Room Window, or "What snow conceals, the sun reveals"(1898)[29][30]

She also contributed to two volumes of short stories:

Other books

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Later life and death

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In 1896, she moved to Brunswick Gardens in Kensington, to where she also relocated her collection.[3]Towards the end of her life, she returned to Pendleton.[2]

She spent most of her days in theBritish Museum,naming and arranging her specimens. Despite suffering from ill-health, she attended the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science inYorkin August 1906. Her health continued to deteriorate in the autumn, but she still continued to label her latest finds, which included a large slab ofNew Red Sandstonefrom theStourton QuarriesnearBirkenheadwithLabyrinthodontfootprints on its surface.[3]

In February 1907, she suffered a bout ofinfluenza[39]and died of a heart attack on 15 February. She was buried atLingfieldChurch, Surrey, near the home of her brother,Francis.[3]She was unmarried and had no children.[2]

Legacy

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In 1894, she donated eight specimens of zeolite group minerals from the Faroe Islands and Iceland to theManchester Museum.[40]

Her will directed that most of her collection of geological specimens should be donated to the LondonNatural History Museum,with any material not wanted there to be passed to the Manchester Museum, with the request that her material should be labelled as belonging to the "Caroline Birley Collection".[2]Her executors,Lazarus Fletcherof the Natural History Museum and her brother, Francis, distributed her collection more widely, with gifts to theManchester Grammar School,theUniversity of Oxfordand to museums atBolton,Bury, Rochdale, Radcliffe and Warrington.[2]

Her obituary, published inThe Geological Magazine,said of her:

By the death of Miss Caroline Birley, a most ardent and enthusiastic student has been lost to the science of Geology, one who from her childhood to the end of her life never wavered in devotion to this her cherished pursuit, nor thought any fatigue or personal sacrifice too great in order to visit places of geological interest and obtain specimens for her beloved Museum.[3]

References

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  1. ^"Caroline Birley".Eccles Old Road.Retrieved19 May2024.
  2. ^abcdefghijklmnopq"Caroline Birley".Bolton Museum. 7 June 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 8 February 2012.Retrieved23 January2012.
  3. ^abcdefghijk"Obituary—Caroline Birley".Geological Magazine.4(3): 143. March 1907.doi:10.1017/S0016756800130146.
  4. ^"Fifth Generation".The Birley family.www.birley.org. Archived fromthe originalon 21 March 2012.Retrieved23 January2012.
  5. ^Warsop, Keith (2004).The Early FA Cup Finals and the Southern Amateurs.SoccerData. pp. 63–64.ISBN978-1-899468-78-2.
  6. ^home pageof malacsoc.org.uk (official web site), accessed 2 March 2012
  7. ^Woodward, Henry(November 1901)."On some Crustacea collected by Miss Caroline Birley and Miss L. Copland from the Upper Cretaceous of Faxe, Denmark".The Geological Magazine.8(11): 486–501.Bibcode:1901GeoM....8..486W.doi:10.1017/S0016756800179890.
  8. ^Birley, Caroline (1891).In the Færoes.
  9. ^Woodward, Henry(February 1900). "Note on a Crustacean Mesodromilites Birleyi, gen. et sp. nov., from the Gault of Folkestone, Kent".The Geological Magazine.7(2): 61–64.Bibcode:1900GeoM....7...61W.doi:10.1017/S0016756800181725.
  10. ^Bullen Newton, Richard (July 1905)."An Account of Some Marine Fossils Contained in Limestone Nodules Found on the Mekran Beach, off the Ormara Headland, Baluchistan".The Geological Magazine.2(7): 293–303.Bibcode:1905GeoM....2..293N.doi:10.1017/S0016756800124999.
  11. ^Woodward, Henry(July 1905)."Note on a Fossil Crab and a Group of Balani Discovered in Concretions on the Beach at Ormara Headland, Mekran Coast".The Geological Magazine.2(7): 305–310.Bibcode:1905GeoM....2..305W.doi:10.1017/S0016756800125014.
  12. ^"Caroline Birley | The Online Books Page".onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu.Retrieved19 May2024.
  13. ^"Author:" Caroline Birley "".Retrieved25 January2012.
  14. ^"Author names starting with Bi".New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors.www.authorandbookinfo.com.Retrieved25 January2012.
  15. ^Shattock, Joanne (2000).The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature, Volume 4; Volumes 1800–1900.Cambridge University Press. p. 1751.ISBN978-0-521-39100-9.Retrieved25 January2012.
  16. ^"Birley, Caroline".www.worldcat.org.Retrieved25 January2012.
  17. ^Birley, Caroline (1879).We are Seven: A Tale for Children.Wells Gardner, Darton.
  18. ^Birley, Caroline (1879).We Are Seven: A Tale for Children.Wells Gardner, Darton.ISBN978-1-120-95424-4.
  19. ^Birley, Caroline (1881).A heap of stones.Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
  20. ^Birley, Caroline (1881).A Heap of Stones.SPCK.ISBN978-1-178-96724-1.
  21. ^Birley, Caroline (1883).Undine; and other stories.
  22. ^Birley, Caroline (1883).Undine and Other Stories.A. L. Burt.ISBN978-1-150-32184-9.
  23. ^Birley, Caroline (1883).Oh dear! what can the matter be?.Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
  24. ^Birley, Caroline (1883).Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be?.SPCK.ISBN978-1-178-97497-3.
  25. ^Eyes to the blind. (A tale) – Caroline Birley.Retrieved25 January2012.
  26. ^Caroline Birley; Skeffington & Son (1887).Jessamine and Her Lesson-books: And how She Missed the Gypsy Tea.Skeffington & Son.
  27. ^Birley, Caroline (1887).Jessamine and her lesson-books(Read online).Skeffington & Son.Retrieved25 January2012.
  28. ^Birley, Caroline (1887).Jessamine and her Lesson-Books, and how she missed the gipsy tea.Skeffington & Son.Retrieved25 January2012.
  29. ^The linen room window, or, "What snow conceals, the sun reveals" – Caroline Birley.Retrieved25 January2012.
  30. ^Birley, Caroline (1898).The Linen-Room Window, or What Snow Conceals, the Sun Reveals.Wells Gardner Darton & Co.Retrieved25 January2012.
  31. ^Baring-Gould, Sabine; Birley, Caroline; Wilmot-Buxton, Helen (2009).My Birthday Present: A Series of Original Birthday Stories for Boys and Girls from Six to Twelve Years of Age.Kessinger Publishing.ISBN978-1-104-33704-9.
  32. ^Baring-Gould, Sabine; Birley, Caroline; Wilmot-Buxton, Helen (1886).My Birthday Present: A Series of Original Birthday Stories for Boys and Girls from Six to Twelve Years of Age.Kessinger Publishing (reprint 2009).ISBN978-1-104-29841-8.
  33. ^Jack Frost's little prisoners.Retrieved25 January2012.
  34. ^"Jack Frost's Little Prisoners: A Collection of Stories for Children From Four to Twelve Years of Age".The Online Books Page.Retrieved25 January2012.
  35. ^Austin, Stella; Baring-Gould,Sabine; Birley, Caroline (1887).Jack Frost's little prisoners: A collection of stories for children from four to twelve years of age.Skeffington & Son. Archived fromthe original(Read online)on 1 July 2016.Retrieved25 January2012.
  36. ^Birley, Caroline (1887).A Christmas Wheatsheaf(Read Online).Skeffington & Son.Retrieved25 January2012.
  37. ^Birley, Caroline (1888).My Lady Bountiful. A true tale of Harriot, Duchess of St. Albans.Walter Smith & Innes.Retrieved25 January2012.
  38. ^My lady bountiful: a true tale of Harriot, Duchess of St. Albans.www.worldcat.org.OCLC320313225.
  39. ^"Caroline Birley".Trowelblazers.8 May 2014.Retrieved19 May2024.
  40. ^"Other Major Collectors".Rocks and Minerals.Manchester Museum. Archived fromthe originalon 25 February 2012.Retrieved26 January2012.
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