RARE! “British Botanist Pioneer" Frances Stackhouse Acton Signed 3X5.5 Card

Description: Up for auction "British Botanist" Frances Stackhouse Acton (Knight) Hand Signed 3X5.5 Card. ES-0907 Frances Stackhouse Acton (née Knight; 7 July 1794 – 24 January 1881), known as Fanny, was a British botanist, archaeologist, writer and artist. Her father was noted botanist, Thomas Andrew Knight, who encouraged her education and included her in his experiments. She married an older land owner and, as they had no children, when he died she pursued her own interests, which included archaeology and architecture. She excavated a Roman villa, built a number of buildings and saved others in need of repair. She was keen on painting buildings and eventually went on to publish a charitable book The Castles & Old Mansions of Shropshire. Stackhouse Acton was born Frances Knight, better known as Fanny, on 7 July 1794 in Elton Hall near Elton, Herefordshire. Her parents were Thomas Andrew Knight, a noted botanist, and his wife Frances Knight, whose family owned the Elton estate. She was the eldest daughter of the family, with two sisters, Elizabeth and Charlotte Knight, along with a brother, Thomas. Around 1808, her family moved to Downton Castle in Herefordshire, which had been built by her great-grandfather, Richard and was owned by her uncle Richard Payne Knight. Her father strongly encouraged her and her siblings' education, and she is quoted as remembering "the hours spent with him in his study, or in his garden, as amongst the happiest recollections". In January 1812 when she was 18, she married the 43-year-old Thomas Pendarves Stackhouse in Old Downton Church in Downton. The couple moved into Acton Scott Hall, which was owned by Stackhouse's mother, though it was in a poor condition.[7] Thomas Stackhouse inherited Acton Scott Hall from his mother when she died in 1834, and the couple became Mr. and Mrs. Stackhouse Acton. Her husband died the following year and as the couple had no children, Stackhouse Acton inherited his estate. Frances Stackhouse Acton's husband died when she was just 40 years old. She had no children, and was free to follow her interests. These included diverse memberships in societies, such as archery or anti-vivisection or making donations of Silurian rocks to the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall. Stackhouse Acton was encouraged into botany by her father, who included her in his horticultural experiments in the grounds Downton Castle. She illustrated two of her fathers publications including three illustrations in Pomona Herefordiensis and, seventy years later, jointly contributed to apple drawings in Herefordshire Pomona She was regarded to be an "accomplished botanist and botanical artist", who influenced her cousins Emily and Charlotte to paint botanical subjects.

Price: 99.99 USD

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

End Time: 2024-12-02T13:23:29.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD