Mary Anning (1799–1847) by unknown artist, before 1842 © The Natural History Museum, London
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H. S. Torrens
Anning, Mary (1799–1847), fossil collector and dealer, was born on 21 May 1799 in a seaside house in Lyme Regis, Dorset. She and her brother Joseph (1796–1849) were the only surviving children of Richard Anning (c.1766–1810), cabinet-maker and carpenter, and his wife, ...
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Michael Rhodes
Baily, John Walker (1809–1873), collector of antiquities, was born on 9 January 1809 in Kent Road, London, the second son of William Baily (1769–1849), an ironmonger, of 71 Gracechurch Street, London, and his wife, Susanna née Walker (1777–1851). He was educated at an academy in ...
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Stephen Bann
Bargrave, John (bap. 1610, d. 1680), Church of England clergyman and collector of curiosities, was baptized at Nonington, Kent, on 18 November 1610. His father, also named John, was the elder brother of Isaac Bargrave and had increased the family fortune derived from tanneries in ...
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Hélène La Rue
Bate, Philip Argall Turner (1909–1999), musicologist and collector of musical instruments, was born in Glasgow on 26 March 1909, the only child of English parents, Percy Herbert Bate (1868–1913), secretary to the Glasgow Museum of Arts, and Mary Turner (1872–1963). His father became curator of the ...
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William Beard (1772–1868) by Samuel Griffiths Tovey, c. 1828–9 © Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
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Beard, William (1772–1868), tourist guide and collector of bones, was born on 24 April 1772 at Woolvershill, Banwell, Somerset, the eldest of the eight children of John Beard (1738–1801), a farmer, and his second wife, Ann Poole (1760–1833). He was educated by John Tuckey...
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Scott Mandelbrote
Beaumont, John (c. 1640–1731), natural philosopher and collector of geological specimens, spent most of his life at Ston Easton, Somerset, where he practised medicine. He befriended the miners working in the nearby Mendip hills, with whom he explored newly discovered caverns and rock formations. Stimulated by ...
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Bellamy, Frank Arthur (1863–1936), astronomer and philatelist, was born on 17 October 1863 at St John's Street, Oxford, the youngest of the six children of Montague Bellamy (1830–1882), a college butler and master bookbinder in St Giles', Oxford, and his wife, Zilpah, née...
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Benett, Etheldred (1775–1845), fossil collector and geologist, was born on 22 July 1775 at Pyt House, Tisbury, Wiltshire, the eldest daughter of Thomas Benett (c.1729–1797) and Catherine Darell (d. 1780). Her eldest surviving brother, John (1773–1852), was a deputy lieutenant and magistrate for ...
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Etheldred Benett (1775–1845) by unknown artist, 1837 Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery
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John C. Thackray
Brown, John (1780x85–1859), geologist and fossil collector, was born at Braintree, Essex. He was apprenticed to a stonemason in Braintree before moving to Colchester as a master mason about 1805. He married first Jane Byford and in 1820, after her death, Elizabeth Eagle...
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A. H. Bullen
revised by Elizabeth Goldring
Cox, Captain, of Coventry (fl. 1575), collector of ballads and romances, is described by his contemporary Robert Laneham as 'an od man, I promiz yoo: by profession a mason, and that right skilfull, very cunning in fens, and hardy az Gawin; … great oversight hath he in matters of storie...
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Crace, Frederick (1779–1859), interior decorator and collector of maps and prints, was born on 3 June 1779 at Park Row, Greenwich, the eldest son of John Crace (1753–1819) [see under Crace family (per. c. 1725-c. 1900)], interior decorator and cabinet-maker, and his second wife, ...
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Frederick Crace (1779–1859) by Frederick Henry Crace, c. 1830 private collection; © reserved in the photograph
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Douce, Francis (1757–1834), antiquary and collector, was born on 13 July 1757 in London, the fourth and last child of Francis Douce (d. 1799), attorney, of the six clerks' office, and his wife, Ellen Tapley (d. 1799). His relationship with his father was not affectionate: '...
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Francis Douce (1757–1834) by James Barry, 1803 © Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
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Elderton, John (1755–1832), antiquary and collector of documents, was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, son of Joseph Elderton (d. 1796), alderman and justice of the peace in Salisbury and register to the bishop of the diocese. A James Elderton, probably of the same family, was admitted '...
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Franks, Sir (Augustus) Wollaston (1826–1897), collector and museum keeper, was born at Geneva on 20 March 1826, the eldest of six children (two sons and four daughters) of Frederick Franks (1793/4–1844), naval officer, and his second wife, Frederica Anne (d. 1864), daughter of ...
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Sir (Augustus) Wollaston Franks (1826–1897) by Charles J. Praetorius, c. 1898 © National Portrait Gallery, London
