Margaret Jane Benson

Margaret Jane Benson (20 October 1859 – 20 June 1936) was an English botanist specialising in paleobotany, and one of the first female members of the Linnean Society of London.[1] Most of her career was spent as the head of the Department of Botany at Royal Holloway College, University of London from 1893 to 1922.[2] In 1927, a botanical laboratory was dedicated in her name.[2] She travelled extensively with Ethel Sargant, collecting specimens, laboratory equipment, and meeting other botanists around the world. Her students included Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, Theodora Lisle Prankerd and Nesta Ferguson.[3]

Margaret Jane Benson
c. 1911
Born(1859-10-20)20 October 1859
Died20 June 1936(1936-06-20) (aged 76)
NationalityBritish
Scientific career
FieldsBotany

Early life and education

Benson was born 20 October 1859 in London to William Benson and Edmunda Bourne, who was the daughter of the landscape painter James Bourne.[4] Benson's mother was also a painter and exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art.[5]

Benson was introduced to botany by her father, an engineer and architect with an interest in the subject.[4] She was first educated by her sister, who had attended Queens College. In 1878-9 she studied Classical Studies for one year at Newnham College, Cambridge, before working for seven years as a teacher at Exeter High School in order to have the finance for university study.[6][7] She then matriculated to University College London in 1887 and earned her bachelor's degree in Botany with first class honors from the university in 1891.[6][2] She gained a Marion Kennedy research scholarship[6] and got her doctorate in 1894 from the University of London, working with Francis Wall Oliver.[4] Her work focused on embryology of a category of Fagales that were called Amentiferae at the time.

Work and achievements

Benson started working as a lecturer at Royal Holloway College in 1889.[6] Benson was appointed head of the Botany Department at Royal Holloway College in 1893,[4] and remained so until her retirement in 1922. She was the first female Botanist to become a department head in the UK.[2] In 1897, Benson travelled around Europe with Ethel Sargent to gain equipment and knowledge to set up the department.[8] Benson is also credited with planning and stocking the Botanical Garden, Herbarium and Museum.[4]

Benson made various collecting trips for botanical material, including to Australia in 1905–1906, and to Australia, Java and India in 1914-15.[4] Her observations of herbaceous plants from the early Paleozoic and the earliest true ferns are considered notable.[4] She proposed a model for the evolution of the ovule,[9] which remains a likely explanation.[2] She also described the species Cordaites felicis found in coal deposits in England.[10] To adopt the new technique of microscopic anatomy of fossils, she cut sections herself with a gas-powered machine in her garden shed.[7] Her papers are characterised by precise drawings and wash-paintings which are believed to be produced by Benson herself.[2]

In 1904, she became a fellow of the Linnean Society of London,[1] one of the first fifteen women who were admitted.[4][11] In 1912 she was made a Professor by the University of London.[4]

Death and Legacy

Upon her retirement in 1922,[4] she was succeeded by Professor Elizabeth Marianne Blackwell as Head of Botany at Royal Holloway College. Benson died on 20 June 1936, and Blackwell authored Benson's official obituary.[12]

Publications
  • M Benson (1893) Contributions to the Embryology of the Amentiferæ.—Part I. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 2nd Series. Botany 3(10):409-–424[13]
  • M Benson (1902) A new Lycopodiaceous seed-like organ. The New Phytologist 1(3): 58-59[14]
  • M Benson (1902) The fruitification of Lyginodendron oldhamium. Annals of Botany os-16(3): 575–576[15]
  • M Benson (1904) Telangium Scotti, a new Species of Telangium (Calymmatotheca) showing structure. Annuals of Botany 18(69): 161-177[9]
  • M Benson, E Sanday, E Berridge (1906) III. Contributions to the Embryology of the Amentiferæ.—Part II. Carpinus Betulus. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 2nd Series. Botany 7(3):37–44[16]
  • M Benson (1908) The Sporangiophore - A Unit of Structure in the Pteridophyta. The New Phytologist 7: 143-149[17]
  • M Benson (1908) X. Miadesmia membranacea, Bertand; a new Palœozoic Lycopod with a seed-like structure. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 199 (251-261): 409-425[18]
  • M Benson (1908) On the Contents of the Pollen Chamber of a Specimen of Lagenostoma ovoides. Biological Gazette 45(6): 409-412[19]
  • M Benson and EJ Welsford (1909) The Morphology of the Ovule and female flower of Juglans regia and of a few allied genera. Annuals of Botany 23(92):623-633[20]
  • M Benson (1910) Root Parasitism in Exocarpus (with comparative Notes on the Haustoria of Thesium). Annals of Botany, os-24 (4): 667–677[21]
  • M Benson (1911) New observations on Botryopteris antiqua, Kidston. Annuals of Botany 25(100):1045-1057[22]
  • M Benson (1912) Cordaites felicis, nov. sp., a Cordaitean leaf from the lower coal measures of England. Annuals of Botany os-26(1):201-207[10]
  • M Benson (1914) I.—Sphærostoma ovale (Conostoma ovale et intermedium, Williamson), a Lower Carboniferous Ovule from Pettycur, Fifeshire, Scotland. Earth and Environment Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 50(1): 1-17[23]
  • M Benson (1918) Mazocarpon or the Structural Sigillariostrobus. Annuals of Botany 32(128):569-589[24]
  • M Benson (1921) The grouping of vascular plants. The New Phytologist 20(2): 82-89[25]
  • M Benson (1922) Hetertheca Grievii the microsporange of Heterangium Grievii. Botanical Gazette 74(2): 121-142[26]
  • M Benson and E Blackwell (1926) Observations on a lumbered area in Surrey from 1917 to 1925. Journal of Ecology 14(1):120-137[27]
  • M Benson (1933) The Roots and Habit of Heterangium Grievii. Annals of Botany os-47(2): 313–315[28]
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See also

References
  • BENSON, Margaret J., Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)
  1. Linnean Society of London .
  2. H.E. Fraser & C.J.Cleal, The Contribution of British Women to Carboniferous Palaeobotany during the first half of the 20th Century, in Cynthia V. Burek & Bettie Higgs, The role of Women in the History of Geology, Geological Society of London, 2007 ISBN 9781862392274, p.51-54
  3. Joy Harvey and Marilyn Ogilvie, The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: Pioneering Lives from Ancient Times to the Mid-Twentieth Century, Volume 1 (Google eBook), p. 116, Taylor & Francis US, 2000.
  4. Creese, Mary R S (2004). "Benson, Margaret Jane". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/46416. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. A collection of drawings by the Bourne family (c1773-1854). Bourne, James, 1773-1854, of 7 Somerset Street, Portman Square, London; Bourne, Edmunda, fl 1820-1844, of 7 North Crescent, Hertford.CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. Creese, Mary R S (2000). Ladies in the Laboratory? American and British Women in Science, 1800-1900: A survey of their contributions to research. 0810832879: Scarecrow Press. p. 39.CS1 maint: location (link)
  7. Fara, Patricia (2018). A lab of one's own. Oxford University Press. p. 126. ISBN 9780198794981.
  8. Joyce Harvey and Marilyn Ogilvie, The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: Pioneering Lives from Ancient Times to the Mid-Twentieth Century, Volume 1 (Google eBook), p. 116, Taylor & Francis US, 2000.
  9. Benson, M. (1904). "Telangium Scotti, a new Species of Telangium (Calymmatotheca) showing Structure". Annals of Botany. 18 (69): 161–177. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a088950. ISSN 0305-7364. JSTOR 43235563.
  10. Benson, Margaret (1 January 1912). "Cordaites Felicis, sp. nov., a Cordaitean Leaf from the Lower Coal Measures of England". Annals of Botany. os-26 (1): 201–207. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a089385. ISSN 0305-7364.
  11. Toogood, Mark D.; Waterton, Claire F. J.; Heim, M. Wallace (April 2020). "Women scientists and the Freshwater Biological Association, 1929–1950". Archives of Natural History. 47 (1): 16–28. doi:10.3366/anh.2020.0618.
  12. London Archives, BENSON, Professor Margaret Jane (1859-1936)
  13. Benson, Margaret (1 November 1893). "XI. Contributions to the Embryology of the Amentiferæ.—Part I". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 2nd Series. Botany. 3 (10): 409–424. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1894.tb00624.x. ISSN 1945-9351.
  14. Benson, Margaret (1902). "A New Lycopodiaceous Seed-Like Organ". The New Phytologist. 1 (3): 58–59. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1902.tb06555.x. ISSN 0028-646X. JSTOR 2427331.
  15. Benson, Margaret (1 September 1902). "The Fructification of Lyginodendron Oldhamium". Annals of Botany. os-16 (3): 575–576. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a088890. ISSN 0305-7364.
  16. Berridge, Emily; Sanday, Elizabeth; Benson, Margaret (1 April 1906). "III. Contributions to the Embryology of the Amentiferæ.—Part II. Carpinus Betulus". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 2nd Series. Botany. 7 (3): 37–44. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1906.tb00150.x. ISSN 1945-9351.
  17. Benson, M. (1908). "The Sporangiophore-A Unit of Structure in the Pteridophyta". The New Phytologist. 7 (6/7): 143–149. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1908.tb06081.x. ISSN 0028-646X. JSTOR 2427255.
  18. Benson Margaret; Scott Dukinfield Henry (1 January 1908). "X. Miadesmia membranacea, Bertand; a new Palœozoic Lycopod with a seed-like structure". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Containing Papers of a Biological Character. 199 (251–261): 409–425. doi:10.1098/rstb.1908.0010.
  19. Benson, Margaret (1908). "On the Contents of the Pollen Chamber of a Specimen of Lagenostoma ovoides". Botanical Gazette. 45 (6): 409–412. doi:10.1086/329595. ISSN 0006-8071. JSTOR 2467224.
  20. BENSON, M.; WELSFORD, E. J. (1909). "The Morphology of the Ovule and Female Flower of Juglans regia and of a few allied Genera". Annals of Botany. 23 (92): 623–633. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a089244. ISSN 0305-7364. JSTOR 43235811.
  21. Benson, Margaret (1 October 1910). "Root Parasitism in Exocarpus (with comparative Notes on the Haustoria of Thesium)". Annals of Botany. os-24 (4): 667–677. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a089297. ISSN 0305-7364.
  22. BENSON, MARGARET (1911). "New Observations on Botryopteris antiqua, Kidston". Annals of Botany. 25 (100): 1045–1057. ISSN 0305-7364. JSTOR 43236750.
  23. Benson, Margaret J. (1914). "I.—Sphærostoma ovale (Conostoma ovale et intermedium, Williamson), a Lower Carboniferous Ovule from Pettycur, Fifeshire, Scotland". Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 50 (1): 1–17. doi:10.1017/S0080456800017245. ISSN 2053-5945.
  24. BENSON, MARGARET J. (1918). "Mazocarpon or the Structural Sigillariostrobus". Annals of Botany. 32 (128): 569–589. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a089693. ISSN 0305-7364. JSTOR 43236279.
  25. Benson, Margaret (1921). "The Grouping of Vascular Plants". The New Phytologist. 20 (2): 82–89. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1921.tb05774.x. ISSN 0028-646X. JSTOR 2427971.
  26. Benson, Margaret (1922). "Heterotheca Grievii the Microsporange of Heterangium Grievii". Botanical Gazette. 74 (2): 121–142. doi:10.1086/333069. ISSN 0006-8071. JSTOR 2469795.
  27. Benson, Margaret; Blackwell, Elizabeth (1926). "Observations on a Lumbered Area in Surrey from 1917 to 1925". Journal of Ecology. 14 (1): 120–137. doi:10.2307/2255785. ISSN 0022-0477. JSTOR 2255785.
  28. Benson, M. (1 April 1933). "The Roots and Habit of Heterangium Grievii". Annals of Botany. os-47 (2): 313–315. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a090386. ISSN 0305-7364.

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