Elizabeth Gray (fossil collector)
| Elizabeth Gray | |
|---|---|
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|
| Born |
Elizabeth Anderson 21 February 1831 Alloway, Scotland |
| Died | 11 February 1924 (aged 92) Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Known for | Fossil collecting |
| Spouse(s) | Robert Gray |
| Children | Alice, Edith and others |
Elizabeth Gray (born Elizabeth Anderson; 21 February 1831 – 11 February 1924) was a Scottish early fossil collector. Gray created scientifically organised collections of fossils for several museums.
Elizabeth Anderson was born in Alloway in 1831. She and her family moved to Enoch near Girvan in Ayrshire where they farmed and Elizabeth attended a small private school. Her father was described as an enthusiastic collector of fossils who had a type of trilobite named after him. Anderson was sent to a boarding school in Glasgow when she was fifteen. She stayed for a year and then returned to help in the home.
She married Robert Gray on 8 April 1856 and they both shared an interest in collecting fossils each holiday back in Girwen. She was assisted by their children when they were able. They lived in Glasgow, where Robert worked in a bank, and their holidays were spent back in Ayrshire. Elizabeth's interest lay in documenting and discovering fossils and she trained her children to document their findings too. Robert co-founded the Natural History Society of Glasgow where much of their findings were exhibited. It was traditional that men took the lead and Mrs Robert Gray was a name she used. Robert would present and take credit for his family's work. At the time you needed to publish papers to join learned societies. Elizabeth's specimens were frequently used at the start of meetings of the Natural History Society of Glasgow but with poor attribution that implied that her husband or she were possibly those responsible. However, in 1866 the first Gray collection was given to the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow by the two of them.
The curator of the Hunterian Museum was John Young who was the Regius Professor of Natural History at the University of Glasgow and a strong supporter for women's higher education. He ran classes for women and in 1869 he invited Elizabeth to attend lectures in geology at his university. Her finds and their scientific descriptions became type specimens. Many of her finds are type specimens; the mollusc Lophospira trispiralis, the starfish Hudsonaster grayae and the echinoderm Archophiactis grayae are all defined by fossils she found.
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