Margaretta Riley

Margaretta Riley, née Hopper (May 4, 1804 - July 16, 1899) was an English botanist. She studied ferns and was the first British pteridologist of her sex.

Life

She was born in Castle Gate, Nottingham on 4 May 1804 to Richard and Margaretta Hopper.[1] She married John Riley in 1826, agent for the Montague family in Papplewick, north of Nottingham, where she lived for the rest of her life.[1]

Margaretta Riley and her husband worked together as pteridologists studying ferns. They were both members of the Botanical Society of London − he from 1838, and she from 1839 on.[2]

She discontinued her botanical research when she was widowed in 1846.

Legacy

The Riley (crater) on the planet Venus was named after her.[3]

Works

Publications by Margaretta Riley include:

  • On the British Genus Cystea (1839)
  • On growing ferns from seed, with suggestions upon their cultivations and preparing the speciments (1839)
  • Polypodium, Dryopteris and calcareum (1841)

References
  1. Ellis, Mavis (2 May 2004). "Margaretta ("Meta") Riley". Claves Regni. St Peter's Church, Nottingham. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  2. Allen, D. E. (1978). Dyce, J. W. (ed.). "The First Woman Pteridologist". The Bulletin. The British Pteridological Society. 1 (6): 247–9. Retrieved 17 July 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  3. "PIA00266: Venus - Oblique View of Crater Riley". JPL Photojournal. JPL. 14 March 1996. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
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