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Charlotte Murchison

Original Article from wiki page

Charlotte Murchison (née Hugonin; 18 April 1788 – 9 February 1869) was a Scottish amateur geologist. Married to the nineteenth century geologist Roderick Impey Murchison, she had a strong influence in the career of her husband.

In 1815, Charlotte Hugonin met Roderick Murchison and married him on 29 August of the same year. She was the daughter of General Francis Hugonin (d. 1836), who was later described as highly intelligent by his daughter Charlotte, and Charlotte Hugonin née Edgar (d. 1838), who was a talented florist and botanist according to her daughter. Her husband followed some rather expensive pursuits and in an attempt to occupy him in more intellectual pursuits, Charlotte traveled throughout France, the Alps, and Italy with him in 1816–1818. On the trip, Charlotte would look at wild-flowers that were abnormal to certain altitudes, mountains, and rocks.

They met Mary Somerville (1780–1872), who was a scientific writer and became a lifelong friend of the couple. Mary Somerville wrote about Charlotte Murchison and said that she was the reason why her husband developed increasing interest towards geology.

Unfortunately, during her travels to Rome in 1817. Charlotte contracted malaria while her traveling companions became ill from exhaustion. Despite her disease, she was able to nurse Roderick Murchison and Charles Lyell back to health.

The lecture theatres of Kings College London were accessible to female geology students, due to Charlotte, even though she was suffering from her disease.

During this time Charlotte became very interested in geology and after much persuasion, her husband also developed an interest in the subject in 1824. By 1825, Charlotte and Roderick were involved in geology field trips in the south coast of England. However it was Charlotte who began to collect fossils and sketch the rocky outcrops of the coastline. This was the first of many field trips with eminent geologists including Mary Anning (1799–1847). Charles Lyell described her as an invaluable assistant. Lyell and the Murchisons travelled in Europe in 1828, with Charlotte engaged in fossil collecting and sketching geological structures and landscapes, which she was taught by Paul Sandby. She accompanied her husband on his geological fieldwork tours of England and Wales 1831 to 1836, and contributed many drawings and sketches to the resulting seminal work, 'The Silurian System', produced by Roderick in 1839. During a trip in 1826 around the Yorkshire coast she drew out majority of the sketches of cliffs and fossils on her husbands behalf. On the trips when she accompanied her husband, she had the opportunity to grow her personal collection of fossils and sketches.

In 1838 when her mother died, Charlotte was left a significant fortune. The couple were able to move to a prestigious house at 16 Belgrave Square, London. Their soirees became a meeting place for scientists and politicians as a result of Charlotte's hospitality skills.

Later Somerville wrote in her autobiography of how Roderick Murchison had made a name for himself in the world of geology. She recounted "At the time he hardly knew one stone from another. He had been an officer in the Dragoons, an excellent horsemen, and a keen fox-hunter. Lady Murchison was an amiable and accomplished woman, with solid acquirements which few ladies at that time possessed. She had taken to the study of geology; and soon after her husband began that career which has rendered him the first geologist of our country".

Charlotte Murchison died on 9 February 1869 at Belgrave Square, London.

Article Draft (Everything from individual revisions compiled)

Charlotte Murchison (née Hugonin; 18 April 1788 – 9 February 1869) was a Scottish amateur geologist. She was married to the nineteenth century geologist Roderick Impey Murchison. Throughout her life she did significant work in collecting fossils and creating geological sketches of important features, along with helping to develop her husband's publications. Charlotte is also often credited for being a significant influence on her husbands career.

In 1815, Charlotte Hugonin met Roderick Murchison and married him on 29 August of the same year. She was the daughter of General Francis Hugonin (d. 1836), who was later described as highly intelligent by his daughter Charlotte, and Charlotte Hugonin née Edgar (d. 1838), who was a talented florist and botanist according to her daughter. Shortly after being married the couple left their home to travel throughout continental Europe including visiting France, the Alps, and Italy during the years 1816-1818. The purpose of this trip was not specifically for geological purposes, although that is not to say no geological activities occurred, but instead the couple engaged in other activities including learning Italian and visiting prominent cultural cities, such as Genoa. During this trip Charlotte also paid special attention to certain wildflowers that were not expected to be found in the environment they were observed in. It was during this trip, when the couple were in Rome, that Charlotte contracted malaria and nearly died from the disease. This event would lead to complications throughout her life which would often cause difficulties for her in her studies.

During this time Charlotte became very interested in geology and after much persuasion, her husband also developed an interest in the subject in 1824. By 1825, Charlotte and Roderick were involved in geology field trips in the south coast of England. However it was Charlotte who began to collect fossils and sketch the rocky outcrops of the coastline. This was the first of many field trips with eminent geologists including Mary Anning (1799–1847). Lyell and the Murchisons travelled in Europe in 1828, with Charlotte engaged in fossil collecting and sketching geological structures and landscapes, which she was taught by Paul Sandby. Charles Lyell would later describe her as an invaluable assistant in the work they were doing. She accompanied her husband on his geological fieldwork tours of England and Wales 1831 to 1836, and contributed many drawings and sketches to the resulting seminal work, 'The Silurian System', produced by Roderick in 1839. During a trip in 1826 around the Yorkshire coast she drew out majority of the sketches of cliffs and fossils on her husbands behalf. On the trips when she accompanied her husband, she had the opportunity to grow her personal collection of fossils and sketches.

Later in her life, the lecture theatres of Kings College London became accessible to female geology students. This was in part due to Charlotte's desire to attend lectures by Charles Lyell, who she had accompanied, along with her husband, throughout Europe previously.

In 1838, when her mother died, Charlotte was left a significant fortune. The couple were able to move to a prestigious house in Belgravia, London. Their soirees became a meeting place for scientists and politicians and it was noted that much of the success of these parties was due to Charlotte's attendance.

Charlotte Murchison died on 9 February 1869 at Belgrave Square, London. She was buried at Brompton Cemetery in London.

Personal life

Charlotte Murchison (née Hugonin; 18 April 1788 – 9 February 1869) was a British Geologist born in Hampshire, United Kingdom to parents General Francis Hugonin and Charlotte Hugonin. At age 27, she met a soldier by the name of Roderick Impey Murchison to which she married later that same year (1815). In 1816, the young couple went on a tour of France, the Alps, and Italy where Charlotte took care observing the various plant life distinct to rock formations in the areas.

Later they traveled to Rome and stayed into the summer, where Charlotte caught ill and nearly died of a malarian fever. Though she recovered, the effects of the illness persisted throughout her life. While in Rome the Murchison's became lifelong friends with Mary Somerville (1780-1872), who would later write of them in her autobiography, stating specifically that Charlotte was "an amiable accomplished woman, drew prettily & what was rare at the time she had studied science, especially geology and it was chiefly owing to her example that her husband turned his mind to those pursuits in which he afterwards obtained such distinction." Charlotte was a consistent companion to her husband's travels, studies, and fieldwork, participating in the work alongside him.

On one such trip, specifically their voyage to the southern coast of England, Charlotte went fossil hunting with Mary Anning (1799-1847) and the two became close friends from then on. Throughout travels with her husband, Charlotte would purchase or hunt for fossils to add to her personal collection, oftentimes studying them independently as well. Charlotte's collection was so well kept and educational that specimens of her collection were studied and published into the works of James de Carle Sowerby (1788-1871) and, later, William Buckland (1784-1856). In recognition of Charlotte's contribution Sowerby named an ammonite fossil, Ammonites Murchisonae, sketched by her on one of her trips to Yorkshire, after her.

Despite all her self-study and time working in the field alongside her husband, Charlotte desired higher education. Come 1831, Charles Lyell (1797-1875), a friend of her and her husband's whom they had worked and traveled with, was giving geological lectures at King's College. Despite his refusal to admit women to his lectures, Charlotte persisted in her attendance, leading to Lyell's opening of his lectures to both men and women. Charlotte would also attend the meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science when able, despite her continued health issues. Eventually she became too ill to travel with her husband and later died of her continued health issues.

Travels through Continental Europe

During her lifetime Charlotte accompanied her husband on several trips of Continental Europe. Their first trip of Continental Europe was in the spring of 1816 and involved visits to locations in France and Italy, as well as a trip to the Alps. Among the cities they visited was Genoa, during the winter of 1816, and Rome, in the following spring. This trip is notable as it was during this trip, when in Rome, that Charlotte caught malaria, an event which would lead to difficulties for her throughout her life. Prior to this trip, the Murchisons had little experience in geological work and this lack of knowledge is written in Mary Somerville's recounting of the couple. After spending the summer of 1818 in Italy, the couple returned to England.

The next notable trip the couple took to Continental Europe would be in 1828, accompanied by Charles Lyell. For this trip, they began in France and traveled through the Massif Central, stopping in Nizza before continuing on to Sourthern Germany. Eventually, the group would make their way to the Austrian and Tyrolese Alps. Still being relatively new to the study of Geology the group primarily saw this trip as an opportunity to further their knowledge in the field. One of the first stops of geological significance occurred after they had climbed the Puy de Dome and reached Clermont-Ferrand. Once in Clermont-Ferrand, Charles Lyell and Roderick Murchison would frequently go on excursions out of the city and leave Charlotte behind. While they were away Charlotte worked on creating panoramas of the region, interacting with local experts, and collecting various plants and shells from the region. Much of the work Charlotte did during this time was incorporated into the work of her companions. After leaving Clermont-Ferrand the group traveled to Mont Dore and then onto Aurillac. Here, Charlotte developed even more illustrations with a focus on lacustrine limestones. The group continued on until they eventually reached Fréjus. While there Roderick developed a high fever but Charlotte was able to nurse him back to health. She too was also feeling unwell and the group stopped at Nice for a significant period of time. Once Roderick had recovered they continued on toward Turin and Padua. At this point, though, the group split as Charles Lyell continued further south. Charlotte and Roderick Murchison, meanwhile, headed back across the Alps in order to return to England as they had received word that Charlotte's parents were ill. They continued quickly back to England until in Tyrol they were notified of her parents recovery and slowed their return to England spending more time in Germany.

In later years Roderick would undergo more trips to Europe, including a trip to Russia, but Charlotte would be unable to accompany her husband due to recurrences of the illness she contracted during their first trip to Continental Europe. The couple did, however, manage to make another trip in 1847 to the Alps and Italy in hopes it would help Charlotte's condition as well as perform some scientific work.

Individual Revisions

First Paragraph

Charlotte Murchison (née Hugonin; 18 April 1788 – 9 February 1869) was a Scottish amateur geologist. Married to the nineteenth century geologist Roderick Impey Murchison. She did significant work in collecting fossils and creating geological sketches of important features, along with helping to develop her husband's publications. Charlotte is also often credited for being a significant influence on her husbands career.

--RFoley2 (talk) 19:17, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

Second Paragraph

In 1815, Charlotte Hugonin met Roderick Murchison and married him on 29 August of the same year. She was the daughter of General Francis Hugonin (d. 1836), who was later described as highly intelligent by his daughter Charlotte, and Charlotte Hugonin née Edgar (d. 1838), who was a talented florist and botanist according to her daughter. Shortly after being married the couple left their home to travel throughout continental Europe including visiting France, the Alps, and Italy during the years 1816-1818. The purpose of this trip was not specifically for geological purposes, although that is not to say no geological activities occurred, but instead the couple engaged in other activities including learning Italian and visiting prominent cultural cities, such as Genoa. During this trip Charlotte also paid special attention to certain wildflowers that were not expected to be found in the environment they were observed in.

--RFoley2 (talk) 19:17, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

Third Paragraph

They met Mary Somerville (1780–1872), who was a scientific writer and became a lifelong friend of the couple. Mary Somerville wrote about Charlotte Murchison and said that she was the reason why her husband developed increasing interest towards geology.

• Should state that they met her in Rome on the first trip (1816-1817). Also possibly change the "lifelong friend" portion as it is very similar to the source and could be refined to make the sentence flow better. Check the validity of the second sentence/its source. The source from the first sentence alludes to that or that she at least motivated him to pursue it.

• possibly move current third paragraph to different section about the couples trips throughout Europe

--RFoley2 (talk) 19:17, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

Fourth Paragraph

Unfortunately, during her travels to Rome in 1817. Charlotte contracted malaria while her traveling companions became ill from exhaustion. Despite her disease, she was able to nurse Roderick Murchison and Charles Lyell back to health.

• She did get sick in Rome from malaria in 1817 but only she was sick in that instance. As well, Lyell wasn't on that trip with them. He came on a trip in 1828 and I don't believe he got ill (have to check again). Instead Roderick and Charlotte both got sick (Roderick malaria and possibly Charlotte too) and Charlotte nursed him back to health. Also important to note how her illness in 1817 affected her the rest of her life.
• move paragraph to section about travel and fix.

--RFoley2 (talk) 19:17, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

Seventh Paragraph

In 1838, when her mother died, Charlotte was left a significant fortune. The couple were able to move to a prestigious house in Belgravia, London. Their soirees became a meeting place for scientists and politicians and it was noted that much of the success of these parties was due to Charlotte's attendance.

• Should work on this sentence and verify the accuracy of what is presented. I added the citation in it for the location but that source actually only states Belgravia as where the house was. Original article said 16 Belgrave Square, London. As well the source doesn't say it was a meeting place because of her hospitality skills only that it was a meeting place and she was noted for being there and it helped the meetings be more successful. I have changed this now.

--RFoley2 (talk) 19:33, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

Eighth Paragraph

• possibly move this paragraph up to towards the beginning of the section as currently it is near material pertaining to the end of her life/career and this describes them when they just started. I think moving it to make it the third paragraph would be a good place for it.
• Also could move this into the new section I'm making about their travels in continental Europe right after I say how they met Somerville.

--RFoley2 (talk) 19:34, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

Ninth Paragraph

Charlotte Murchison died on 9 February 1869 at Belgrave Square, London. She was buried at Brompton Cemetery in London.

--RFoley2 (talk) 19:34, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

Personal Life

Charlotte Murchison (née Hugonin; 18 April 1788 – 9 February 1869) was a British Geologist born in Hampshire, United Kingdom to parents General Francis Hugonin and Charlotte Hugonin. At age 27, she met a soldier by the name of Roderick Impey Murchison to which she married later that same year (1815). In 1816, the young couple went on a tour of France, the Alps, and Italy where Charlotte took care observing the various plant life distinct to rock formations in the areas.

Later they traveled to Rome and stayed into the summer, where Charlotte caught ill and nearly died of a malarian fever. Though she recovered, the effects of the illness persisted throughout her life. While in Rome the Murchison's became lifelong friends with Mary Somerville (1780-1872), who would later write of them in her autobiography, stating specifically that Charlotte was "an amiable accomplished woman, drew prettily & what was rare at the time she had studied science, especially geology and it was chiefly owing to her example that her husband turned his mind to those pursuits in which he afterwards obtained such distinction." Charlotte was a consistent companion to her husband's travels, studies, and fieldwork, participating in the work alongside him.

On one such trip, specifically their voyage to the southern coast of England, Charlotte went fossil hunting with Mary Anning (1799-1847) and the two became close friends from then on. Throughout travels with her husband, Charlotte would purchase or hunt for fossils to add to her personal collection, oftentimes studying them independently as well. Charlotte's collection was so well kept and educational that specimens of her collection were studied and published into the works of James de Carle Sowerby (1788-1871) and, later, William Buckland (1784-1856). In recognition of Charlotte's contribution Sowerby named an ammonite fossil, Ammonites Murchisonae, sketched by her on one of her trips to Yorkshire, after her.

Despite all her self-study and time working in the field alongside her husband, Charlotte desired higher education. Come 1831, Charles Lyell (1797-1875), a friend of her and her husband's whom they had worked and traveled with, was giving geological lectures at King's College. Despite his refusal to admit women to his lectures, Charlotte persisted in her attendance, leading to Lyell's opening of his lectures to both men and women. Charlotte would also attend the meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science when able, despite her continued health issues. Eventually she became too ill to travel with her husband and later died of her continued health issues.
Amanda Skeeters (talk) 21:13, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

Travels through Continental Europe

During her lifetime Charlotte accompanied her husband on several trips of Continental Europe. Their first trip of Continental Europe was in the spring of 1816 and involved visits to locations in France and Italy, as well as a trip to the Alps. Among the cities they visited was Genoa, during the winter of 1816, and Rome, in the following spring. This trip is notable as it was during this trip, when in Rome, that Charlotte caught malaria, an event which would lead to difficulties for her throughout her life. Prior to this trip, the Murchisons had little experience in geological work and this lack of knowledge is written in Mary Somerville's recounting of the couple. After spending the summer of 1818 in Italy, the couple returned to England.

The next notable trip the couple took to Continental Europe would be in 1828, accompanied by Charles Lyell. For this trip, they began in France and traveled through the Massif Central, stopping in Nizza before continuing on to Sourthern Germany. Eventually, the group would make their way to the Austrian and Tyrolese Alps. Still being relatively new to the study of Geology the group primarily saw this trip as an opportunity to further their knowledge in the field. One of the first stops of geological significance occurred after they had climbed the Puy de Dome and reached Clermont-Ferrand. Once in Clermont-Ferrand, Charles Lyell and Roderick Murchison would frequently go on excursions out of the city and leave Charlotte behind. While they were away Charlotte worked on creating panoramas of the region, interacting with local experts, and collecting various plants and shells from the region. Much of the work Charlotte did during this time was incorporated into the work of her companions. After leaving Clermont-Ferrand the group traveled to Mont Dore and then onto Aurillac. Here, Charlotte developed even more illustrations with a focus on lacustrine limestones. The group continued on until they eventually reached Fréjus. While there Roderick developed a high fever but Charlotte was able to nurse him back to health. She too was also feeling unwell and the group stopped at Nice for a significant period of time. Once Roderick had recovered they continued on toward Turin and Padua. At this point, though, the group split as Charles Lyell continued further south. Charlotte and Roderick Murchison, meanwhile, headed back across the Alps in order to return to England as they had received word that Charlotte's parents were ill. They continued quickly back to England until in Tyrol they were notified of her parents recovery and slowed their return to England spending more time in Germany.

In later years Roderick would undergo more trips to Europe, including a trip to Russia, but Charlotte would be unable to accompany her husband due to recurrences of the illness she contracted during their first trip to Continental Europe. The couple did, however, manage to make another trip in 1847 to the Alps and Italy in hopes it would help Charlotte's condition as well as perform some scientific work.

• feel free to edit any of this or if you think there is anything extra in here let me know

--RFoley2 (talk) 20:49, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

General Notes

• Article definitely needs to be rearranged as it is chronologically inaccurate, especially when it comes to the two trips she took with her husband.
• Need to expand on a lot of the sentences already existing as they are often short and don't flow well.
• Should also add sections possibly including: personal life, the 1816-1818 trip, the trip with Lyell and Roderick, etc.
• She does have a fossil named after her: Ammonites Murchisonae.
  

Article Evaluation

callippus

• Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?

Most of the material in the article is relevant to him. There is a slight deviation from him to describe the Metonic cycle but I believe this is to describe his contributions to the cycle but it is slightly confusing. There is definitely more that could be added about him and also material that can be clarified.

• Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

I doubt the material is out of date for him as he is an Ancient Greek astronomer and likely hasn't done anything else since this was published but there likely is more information which could be found on him that has recently been discovered. Since there is only one source other sources could likely be found about him.

• What else could be improved?

Firstly, there could be a lot of material in this article that could be clarified. Some of the wording of phrases isn't quite clear, such as when they are talking about his contribution to the Metonic Cycle. Another important detail I think could added is when he got to Athens or Greece itself since the author says he arrived prior to Aristotle's death (or was at least active there before then) but how long was he interacting with the Athenians? As well, more sources are needed as well as citations. There is only one citation and it is not cited in the article, I believe. As well, explaining how he came to some of his conclusions could be beneficial as it simply states that he thought things weren't good enough. Finally, there is very little about his personal life or how where he was affected his work or ideas. There are modern astronomical discoveries named after him so it would stand to reason people know about is impact now so there likely is more about him out there.

• Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

The article seems neutral in most regards as it focuses on his alterations to pre-existing models as well as his development of his cycle. The only bias could be that it is focused on his scientific/philosophical work and not on say his political involvement or social interactions. This may simply be due to a lack of documentation of his works in such areas.

• Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

The dominant focus of this article is his work on the length of seasons as well as his development of the Callippic cycle, along with a few other alterations he made to other models. So in this regard the main viewpoint is one of a scientific/philosophical/astronomical minded person and not someone focused on his work in other areas if he did do work in that area. With him being a figure in Ancient Greece there may not be much else about him that survived through the years and this is the only viewpoint we have of him now. However, with only one article cited it would be worthwhile to dig a bit deeper into his history.

• Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?

There is only one reference for this entire article and there are no in text citations I could find. As well, this reference appears to be a hardcover book only, thus can't be linked to, and I can't find it through a quick Google search. Along with this I can't check to see if this source supports the claims. The external links due work though and bring me to pages with supplemental information.

• Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?

Individual things are not referenced within the article and I cannot find an online option for the source thus I cannot check to see if the source is neutral or not. However, if it is an actual source it is listed as a Dictionary and would thus, hopefully, be neutral.

• What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?

There is one person who asked questions about the article but he never got responses. This comment was posted in April of 2018. This person does raise an important question about the wording regarding how the dates are presented. Besides this there is no other conversations going on in the talk page.

• How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?

The article is rated as a Start-Class with low to mid importance. It is a level-5 vital article in People and Scientists though. It is part of WikiProjects for Biography, Greece, Classical Greece and Rome, Astronomy, and Philosophy.

• How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

I don't believe we talked about him in class, at least not in detail regarding his cycle he developed or any other work he did. Thus the material in this article is quite different than what we talked about in class and provides significant amount of additional information about him and his contributions although there is definitely more about him out there.

--RFoley2 (talk) 16:53, 22 February 2019 (UTC)

Article I'm Working on

Charlotte Murchison

We chose this article as it appears to be missing a lot of material about her life and her own work. Much of the current article is on her work with others and how she helped them, especially her husband. Hopefully, with some researching, we can find some of her own contributions to Geology (or other fields) and add those to her page. It seems like her page is mainly focused on how she impacted others' work and not what she did. As well, there are portions of the article that are in need of citation and others that could use work in the wording and phrasing of certain passages.

Hopefully we can add more about her own contributions to Geology and possibly also some details of her personal and social life as these may have impacted her work.

Sources

From IsisCB

Kolbl-Ebert, M. (2007) The Geological Travels of Charles Lyell, Charlotte Murchison and Roderick Impey Murchison in France and Northern Italy (1828). In: Four Centuries of Geological Travel: The Search for Knowledge on Foot, Bicycle, Sledge and Camel (p. 109).

Kölbl-Ebert, Martina (1997) Charlotte Murchison (née Hugonin) 1788-1869.

Scaglione, Aldo D. (1986) The liberal arts and the Jesuit college system.

--RFoley2 (talk) 16:51, 1 March 2019 (UTC)

From Scopus

kolbl-Ebert, M. (2002) British Geology in the early nineteenth century: A conglomerate with a female matrix. Earth Sciences History, 21(1), pp. 3-25.

--RFoley2 (talk) 19:37, 5 March 2019 (UTC)

Peer Review from Alh266 (talk) 15:40, 22 March 2019 (UTC)

1. Thank you for adding subheadings, that was driving me crazy in the original article!
2. Thank you for taking out “rather expensive” in reference to their travels.
3. I like how you tied in their first trip even though it wasn’t a geological trip, explaining how it would lead to health complications.
4. The section “Later in her life, in part due to Charlotte, the lecture theatres of Kings College London were accessible to female geology students, even though she was suffering from her disease.” seems out of place and could use more information leading into it. I know you go into it later, but it still seems odd here.
5. I like where you have noted that you need citations still! I would also link to the people talked about.
6. Thank you for introducing Lyell into the section about the travel where she nurses everyone back to health, that was a weird spot in the original article.
7. Your additions are much easier to read than the original, and sound more objective- nice work!