Amy Barrington facts for kids

Amy Barrington (died 6 January 1942) was an Irish teacher and scientist. She was known for her studies on how traits are passed down in families, a field sometimes called eugenics. She wrote several scientific papers and also a book about her own family's history.

Amy Barrington spent 26 years learning and traveling before she decided to research her family's past. She was the youngest daughter of Edward Barrington, who lived in Fassaroe, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland.

She passed away on January 6, 1942, from heart failure at her home in Harlech, Dundrum, Co. Dublin. At the time, she was described as a 'gentlewoman'. She left about £3,144 in her will, which is worth around €153,570 today.

Amy Barrington was a student at Classical Tripos in 1885. She then became a teacher in Australia at the Girls' Grammar School, Brisbane (1888–93). She also taught for three years (1888–91) in a school in Vancouver. Later, in 1906, she became a lecturer at Bedford College Training Department in London (1907–19), where she helped train new teachers. From 1906 to 1919, she also did important research on human heredity at the Francis Galton Laboratory at University College, London.

Family Life

Amy Barrington was the second youngest daughter of Edward George Barrington and his second wife, Huldah Strangman Barrington. She had four sisters: Anna, Huldah, Victoria, and Marion, and one brother, Richard. She also had many half-siblings from her father's first marriage.

Her family home was in Fassaroe, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. Her father first rented this home, and later her brother, Richard M. Barrington, bought it. Amy's grandfather, John Barrington, is buried in a private cemetery at the home, along with other family ancestors.

Amy Barrington wrote a book about her family's past called "The Barringtons – A Family History." This book can be found in the National Library of Ireland. She was able to gather information for her book because her sister, Mrs. Davis, and her cousin, Emily Malone, had collected and saved family records. These records helped Barrington research her family's long history.

Studies and Research

In 1902, Amy Barrington met Karl Pearson, a well-known scientist. She started working as a volunteer in his Biometric laboratory. Later, she became a paid assistant at the Galton Laboratory for Eugenics, which was founded by Sir Francis Galton. Karl Pearson was the director of this laboratory.

At the Galton Laboratory, Amy Barrington carried out many studies related to human heredity. She explored how traits and conditions are passed down from parents to children.

Published Works

Amy Barrington published several important scientific papers and books during her career:

• Hereditary Disorders of Bone Development (1925): This book looked at how bone problems can be passed down through families.
• A First Study of the Inheritance of Vision and of the relative influence of Heredity and Environment on Sight (1909): Written with Karl Pearson, this study explored how eyesight is inherited and how much it's affected by family traits versus surroundings.
• Dwarfism (1912): Co-authored with Harold Rischbieth, this work included a detailed bibliography and images related to dwarfism.
• On the Correlation of Fertility with Social Value (1913): This was a group study with Ethel Mary Elderton, looking at how family size might relate to social standing.

Historical Interests

Even as a young girl, Amy Barrington was very interested in heredity, which is the study of how traits are passed from parents to children. This was before it became a popular field of study. She noticed differences between her half-brothers and sisters and the children of her own mother.

Barrington thought these differences might be due to different "strains of blood." She later realized how important a person's full ancestry is for understanding heredity, not just focusing on the parents.

In her study "A First Study of the Inheritance of Vision," Barrington used research from other people to help her work. She even noted the differences in how studies were recorded in English (used in Ireland at the time) compared to German.

Besides her scientific papers, she also wrote:

• The Barringtons – A family history (1917): Her book about her own family's history.
• The Inhabitants of Westminster in the reign of Charles I (1935): This was an index she created for a historical document about people living in Westminster during the time of King Charles I.

See Also

• Richard Manliffe Barrington, scientist born at Fassaroe, Bray, Co. Wicklow
• Galton Institute
• Charles Barrington, mountaineer of Fassaroe