Mary Anne Whitby | |
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Born | Mary Anne Theresa Symonds 1783 England |
Died | 1850 (aged 66–67) |
Children | Theresa Cornwallis West |
Parent | Thomas Symonds (father) |
Relatives | William Symonds (brother) William Cornwallis Symonds (nephew) Thomas Symonds (nephew) Jermyn Symonds (nephew) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Zoology |
Mary Anne Theresa Whitby (née Symonds;[1] 1783–1850) was an English writer, landowner, and artist. She became an authority on the cultivation of silkworms, and in the 1830s reintroduced sericulture to the United Kingdom. During the 1840s, she corresponded extensively with Charles Darwin about silkworms, conducting breeding experiments to help develop his theories of natural selection.