Amelia Griffiths facts for kids

Amelia Griffiths (1768–1858) was a famous British scientist who loved studying seaweed. In her time, people often called her "Mrs Griffiths of Torquay". She was an expert at finding and collecting different types of seaweed, also known as marine algae. She was an amateur phycologist, which means someone who studies algae. She was also known as a beachcomber, someone who searches beaches for interesting things.

Who Was Amelia Griffiths?

Amelia Warren Rogers was born on January 14, 1768, in Pilton, Devon, UK. Her parents were John and Emily Rogers. In 1794, she married Rev. William Griffiths. He was a vicar, a type of priest, in St Issey, Cornwall.

After her husband passed away, Amelia moved her family to Torquay. She had five children. She lived in Torquay until she died on January 4, 1858.

Working with Other Scientists

Amelia Griffiths worked closely with many other scientists. She often wrote letters to William Henry Harvey, a famous botanist. They became very good friends. They finally met in person in Torquay in 1839.

William Henry Harvey admired Amelia's work very much. He even dedicated his book, Manual of British Algae, to her in 1849. He wrote that she was an amazing collector. He said she helped him understand how seaweed plants change. He also said she could always find parts of plants that others found empty.

A scientist named Carl Adolph Agardh honored Amelia in 1817. He named a type of red algae, Griffithsia, after her.

Amelia also helped her servant, Mary Wyatt. Mary collected and sold books filled with pressed seaweeds. Amelia helped Mary with her business, which also sold other local souvenirs.

Discovering New Seaweed Species

Amelia Griffiths was the first person to describe some new types of seaweed.

• In 1841, she described Ceramium agardhianum. This seaweed is now known as Ceramium deslongchampsii.
• In 1844, she also described the species Ceramium botryocarpum.

Her official author abbreviation for botany is

. This is used when scientists mention plants she described.

Amelia's Seaweed Collections

Amelia Griffiths collected a huge number of seaweed samples. She sent some of her samples to other scientists. She also created her own albums by carefully pressing and mounting the seaweeds.

After she died, her personal collection of plants, called a herbarium, went to the Torquay Museum. There are also three albums of her samples at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter.

Many of her samples are now in the British Museum. This includes 780 British seaweeds bought in 1852. Another 880 samples were given to the museum in 1917 by the North Devon Athenaeum. She also gave materials to other collectors, and these have also ended up in national collections. Some of her samples are even at the Kew Herbarium.

It's important to know that her daughter, Amelia Elizabeth Griffiths (1802-1861), also collected seaweeds. Sometimes, their collections have been mixed up!

See also

In Spanish: Amelia Griffiths para niños

• Timeline of women in science