Mary Anne Whitby facts for kids

Mary Anne Theresa Whitby (1783–1850) was an English writer and artist. She was also a landowner. Mary Anne became an expert on raising silkworms. In the 1830s, she brought sericulture back to the United Kingdom. Sericulture is the practice of raising silkworms to produce silk.

During the 1840s, she wrote many letters to Charles Darwin. She told him about her silkworm experiments. These experiments helped Darwin develop his ideas about natural selection.

Early Life and Family

Mary Anne Theresa Symonds was born in 1783. Her father, Captain Thomas Symonds, was a Royal Navy officer. Her older brother, William, later became a top naval architect.

Around 1800, she married Captain John Whitby. They had one daughter together. John Whitby worked for Admiral Sir William Cornwallis. After Cornwallis retired in 1806, the Whitby family lived on his estate. John Whitby died soon after.

Mary Anne stayed with Admiral Cornwallis as his companion. He had spent much of his life at sea. He did not have many close friends. When Cornwallis died in 1819, Mary Anne inherited most of his property. Her brother William also received some money. He used it to start a successful career.

Mary Anne later bought more land in the area. She lived on her estate for the rest of her life. In 1827, her daughter Theresa married Frederick Richard West. He was a member of Parliament. Their children later used Cornwallis as a middle name.

Bringing Silkworms Back to England

In 1835, Mary Anne Whitby was traveling in Italy. She heard about a businessman making money from silkworms. He had a mulberry farm near Milan. She decided to try raising silkworms in England. She hoped to make a profit. She also wanted to bring the silk industry back to the country. This would create jobs for women.

King James I of England had tried to introduce silkworms in the 1600s. The mulberry trees grew well, but the silkworms did not survive.

It took Mary Anne ten years to make silk production profitable. The hardest part was processing the raw silk. But she kept trying. In 1844, she made twenty yards of damask fabric. She gave this special fabric to Queen Victoria.

Working with Charles Darwin

In 1846, Mary Anne Whitby gave a speech about silkworms. This was at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. She met Charles Darwin there.

Darwin later asked her to do experiments with silkworms. He wanted to know if traits like "silklessness" were passed down. He wrote to her, "I intend some few years hence to publish on variation." He said her facts would be very important for his work. He also asked her about moths flying and caterpillars behaving.

Mary Anne sent him moth specimens. She noted how male and female moths looked different. She also promised to do more research. Over the next two years, she did selective breeding experiments. She found that traits in the larval stage were inherited. This means they were passed down. Darwin later wrote about her findings in his book, The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication (1868).