Maria Emma Gray facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Maria Emma Gray
Maria Emma Gray in 1863
Born	Maria Emma Smith 1787 Greenwich Hospital, London, England
Died	(1876-12-09)9 December 1876
Occupation	Conchologist, algologist and scientific illustrator
Spouse(s)	Francis Edward Gray ​ ​ (m. 1810; died 1814)​ John Edward Gray ​ (m. 1826)​
Children	2
Parent(s)	Lieutenant Henry Smith

Maria Emma Gray (1787–1876) was an amazing English scientist. She was a conchologist, which means she studied shells. She was also an algologist, someone who studies algae (like seaweed). Plus, she was a talented scientific illustrator, creating detailed drawings for science.

Maria Emma Gray's Life

Maria Emma Smith was born in 1787 at Greenwich Hospital in London. Her father, Henry Smith, was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy.

In 1810, Maria Emma married Francis Edward Gray. Sadly, he passed away four years later. They had two daughters, Emma Juliana Gray Smith and Sophia Elizabeth Gray Stokes. Both of her daughters also grew up to be scientific illustrators, just like their mother!

In 1826, Maria Emma married again, this time to Francis's second cousin, John Edward Gray. He was also a very important scientist. Maria Emma helped her second husband a lot with his scientific work, especially by creating many detailed drawings for him.

Her Work with Shells

Maria Emma Gray was very passionate about shells. Between 1842 and 1874, she privately published five books of her own detailed drawings. These books were called Figures of Molluscan Animals for the use of Students.

She also helped arrange and organize a huge collection of shells at the British Museum. This collection was known as the Cuming collection.

Studying Algae

Besides shells, Maria Emma Gray also loved to study algae. She put together many collections of algae specimens. She even gave these collections to schools across the country to encourage students to learn about this topic.

She worked at both the Kew and British Museum herbaria (places where dried plant specimens are kept). She helped organize and care for many algae specimens there. Her own collection of algae was later given to the Cambridge University Museum.

Her husband, John Edward Gray, honored her work in several ways. In 1866, he named a genus (a group) of algae after her, called Grayemma. He also named two types of lizards after her: Calotes maria and Calotes emma. Another species, a type of sea snail, was named Scapha maria-emma (now known as Cymbiola mariaemma) in her honor.

In 1863, a special bronze medallion was made with both Maria Emma and John Edward Gray's portraits on it. A copy of this medallion is kept at the Linnean Society. Maria Emma Gray passed away on December 9, 1876, just one year after her husband.

Images for kids

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  Nudibranchs

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  Molluscs

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  Unidentified

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  Slugs