Eleanor Glanville

Eleanor Glanville^{[note 1]} (born Goodricke; first married name Ashfield; 1654–1709) was an English entomologist and naturalist, specializing in the study of butterflies and moths. She inherited family properties across Somersetshire and married twice (once widowed). She had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood.

After separating from her second husband in the late 1690s, Glanville returned to an early passion for butterfly collecting and established herself among the ranks of early insect enthusiasts, corresponding with other entomologists such as James Petiver and John Ray. Glanville sent multiple first-known butterfly specimens to Petiver, contributing to his British insect catalogue Gazophylacium naturae et artis, and her experiments in raising butterflies resulted in some of the earliest detailed descriptions of butterfly rearing. She is known for discovering the Glanville fritillary, the only native British butterfly named after a British naturalist. Three of Glanville's insect specimens still exist today in the Natural History Museum's Sloane collection.

Towards the end of Glanville's life, her estranged husband made attempts to obtain her wealth through intimidation and the circulation of rumours, and she countered this by leaving her properties in trust and willing small legacies to her children. Her eldest son contested the will after her death, however, and argued that his mother's entomological pursuits and seemingly eccentric behaviour were enough to declare her will invalid on grounds of insanity. The will was overturned in 1712.

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