Join Greg Jenner for a fun homeschool history lesson on the life of palaeontologist Mary Anning. Due to her gender and social standing, Mary’s vast contributions to palaeontology were often overlooked by the science community during her lifetime. She has since been voted one of the most influential women in the history of science. Historical Consultant: Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes Produced by Abi Paterson Scripted by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, Emma Nagouse and Greg Jenner Research Assistance by Hannah MacKenzie An Athletic production for BBC Radio 4
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Hello, and welcome to Homeschool History.
I'm Greg Jenner, the historian behind tv's horrible histories and the host of the BBC podcast you're dead to me.
I'm here to deliver a snappy history lesson to entertain and educate the whole family who says that homeschooling can't be fun.
Today we are journeying to the 19th century to meet an extraordinary woman who is truly ahead of her time, known as the Princess of paleontology and the greatest fossil hunter who ever lived were learning about Mary Anning.
Mary Anning entered history with a bang in 1799 in a place called Lyme Regis on the southwest coast of England.
And I mean a literal bang.
When she was just one year old, she was struck by lightning.
Other people, sadly died, but Mary miraculously survived, which led some people in the town to think that she had superpowers, kind of like the flash.
Marys parents were called Richard and also Mary, and they werent a very posh family at all.
Tragically, they had ten children, but only young Mary and her brother Joseph survived.
Richard was a respectable cabinet maker, as well as being quite poor, the anning family had unusual religious beliefs for the time, which meant that other people were quite suspicious of them.
Richard Anning strongly believed that poor people should have better rights and a good education.
So when he wasnt building fancy furniture, he was involved in protests against food shortages.
He was the Marcus Rashford of carpentry.
I dont want this to be the end of it, you know.
Even though she was quite poor and was a girl, young Marys parents made sure that she had an education.
And soon she became interested in geology and paleontology, which is the study of rocks and fossils from tens or hundreds of millions of years ago.
This was a nice hobby to have in Lyme Regis because fossils were absolutely everywhere.
You couldnt go for a walk on the beach without tripping over crusty remains of a prehistoric sea snail.