Talk: Mary Anning, The Fossil Woman

More has been written about Mary Anning (1799–1847), the fossil dealer of Lyme Regis, than about any other geologist, apart from Charles Darwin. Separating the facts from the fictions about Mary Anning can be challenging, but her story is a remarkable tale in its own right. This talk by Tom Sharpe will examine what we know of the life of this extraordinary woman and her famous discoveries, and her part within the developing science of palaeontology in the early nineteenth century.

Tom Sharpe was formerly Curator of Palaeontology and Archives at the National Museum of Wales. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society, the Royal Geographical Society and the Museums Association, and is a former Chair of the Geological Curators’ Group and History of Geology Group. He has published on the work of the geologists Henry De la Beche and William Smith and on the history of the geological exploration of Antarctica. He is the author of The Fossil Woman. A Life of Mary Anning, published by The Dovecote Press in November 2020, and now available in paperback.

Bookings close at 4pm on Tuesday 18 April. You will be emailed a link to the talk shortly after this time.

This talk is to tie-in with the current special exhibition ‘The Age of Dinosaurs’ at West Berkshire Museum.

Wednesday 19 April | 7-8pm  | Online (Zoom)  | £5