Some people might be wondering, who is Mary Anning? Well don’t worry, you are not alone. Most of the time when I ask anyone about her, they don’t know who she is and they don’t know what I’m talking about.
My name is Evie Swire, I am eleven years old and live in a small village in Dorset near the sea, along the Jurassic Coast. When I was eight years old we learnt all about Mary in my school class. We did a whole project, and I thought because I did it at school everyone in the whole world would be learning about her too. Then I found out that they weren’t, and it made me feel like I had to do something about it
My mummy also said that schools were very good at teaching about the amazing things men have discovered and invented– like Issac Newton, Albert Einstien and Charles Darwin– but not so good at talking about women in history and what they have discovered and done.
If it weren’t for Mary’s discoveries of fossilised creatures, Charles Darwin would probably have not been able to start his own discoveries, so she is a very important.
I asked my mummy why Mary wasn’t talked about in schools and she said Mary had been forgotten. She said Mary was uneducated, and in Victorian times working class people did not have many rights and were very poor. Mary was also a woman, and this meant she could not do things that the men in science could do, like write things for the newspaper and join the big London clubs.
Mary wasn’t allowed to join in and that is why she has been forgotten. If I had a time machine I would go back and tell them that they are all wrong, and they should listen to Mary because she was amazing and had important things to say.
(I would also like to punch them because they make me so angry but I would get arrested and mummy said the Victorians put kids into prisons).
I decided then that I would do something for Mary. One day we were coming off the beach at Lyme Regis and bought some ice creams from the shop near the bus stop, when I looked around for a statue of Mary. I thought that there would be one, since she was born and lived in Lyme Regis. So I asked my mummy if we could go and see her statue and my mummy said she didn’t have one. And that is when it all began.
So we started a campaign called Mary Anning Rocks and I spoke to a Councillor called Cheryl Reynolds and she was really nice to me and said she would help. I really liked her because she listens to me. We now have amazing people who support us and are what are called patrons: Professor Alice Roberts from the TV, Tracy Chevalier who wrote a book about Mary that my mummy loves, the guy form the Jurassic park films called Jack Horner, and I have been writing to Sir David Attenborough who said it was a great idea and that he would be one of our supporters too. (He only writes letters and does not do email or the Internet like granddad. Mummy said that’s good because we need to learn how to do snail mail too).
Mummy and her friends have been doing a lot of Twitter and Instagram and we have about 2,000 people who love Mary too, and that is a lot of people, but I think we need more help. There is a thing called crowdfunding and it means lots of people can put small amounts together to make a big amount, and we need a big amount to pay a really good artist to make the statue for Mary. So, please help us and join in when we crowdfund in spring 2019.
And as well as the statue, the Bank of England wants everyone to make suggestions for a scientist to go on the new £50. We’ve got until Friday 14 December 2018, then they will tell everyone who they have chosen in the New Year. This will be when we crowdfund, and if we can get Mary on the new £50 that would be amazing as well because lots of people will be talking about her at last and will want to help build her a statue.
Also my mummy did this mash-up of Mary on the back of an old £50 note, and I think she looks like she should be there with her ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs all be swimming around her (and Tray her dog who died under a mudslide should be there too).
This is the link to vote (I have found a trick, if you vote you can then click the return to previous page button and you can write Mary Anning in again. I have voted like a trillion times)
https://app.keysurvey.co.uk/f/1348443/10fc/
I hope you like my blog, it’s my first, and I hope you love Mary too because she really really does ROCK!!! And I really want the statue to happen and thank you for reading.
Written by Evie Swire aged 11½ and her Mother, Anya Pearson
Edited by Megan and Becky
I normally spend my lunchtime reading the news or some report or other…..today I read this blog and feel like I have had the most informative and productive lunchtime I have had in a very long time. Outstanding work Evie thank you for raising such an important t person to our attention. Keep the blogs coming!
Dear Margot
My name is Anya and I am Evie’s mum
Thank you so much for your lovely words of support. Both Evie and I have read all the comments and it makes us feel so proud to have so many amazing people who love Mary as much as we do.
Thank you
Anya & Evie x
Hi Evie,
We are Class Anning from Newton Primary School (Reception and Year 1 Class). We have been learning about Mary Anning too, that she found a lot of fossils and she is a famous fossil hunter, but she was poor and she didn’t get the credit for her discoveries. We didn’t like that some boys came along and took her fossils and said that they found them, but actually Mary Anning did!
Evie, we think you are doing a really good thing and believe she should have more credit and become more famous! We would love to see her on the back of the new £50 note and we will be voting for it too (we will try to do it a billion times every day!).
We would love it if you wrote back to us and let us know if anything happens! Thank you so much for supporting Mary Anning and have a good day!
Mr T, Mrs J and Class Anning
Dear Mr. T, Mrs. J, and Class Anning
My name is Anya Pearson and I am Evie’s mum.
Thank you so much for your lovely reply to Evie’s blog. We have read all the comments and it makes us very happy indeed to know there are lots of children (and adults) out there that love Mary as much as we do.
It’s so great that your class is called Anning! We both loved that so much.
We will definitely keep you posted on all our news and you can keep up to date with Twitter, Instagram or FaceBook – there are lots of images and news there.
once again thank you for your support it means a lot to us
Kind regards
Evie and Anya x
Hi Evie, you were so lucky to grow up close to Lyme Regis and learn all about Mary Anning. I did not hear about her until I read a book by Tracy Chevalier a few years ago. I was astonished to learn about Mary and her work and like you felt annoyed that more people didn’t give her the credit she deserved. The book was called ‘Remarkable Creatures’. I will be following you and look forward to donating to your fund. Well done.
Dear Stacey
My name is Anya Pearson and I am Evie’s mum.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment. We have read them together and it is so heartening to know we have so much love and support for the campaign. Tracey Chevalier was the first person we asked to be one of our patrons and she said ‘In a heartbeat’.
Thank you also for offering to contribute to the statue. That is very kind of you and if you follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram you can keep up with up to date news and information.
Kind regards
Evie & Anya x
I really enjoyed reading your blog, Evie. It was very informative as well as being entertaining – the perfect combination! I first heard about Mary Anning when I went fossil hunting with my children in Lyme Regis many years ago. And like you, I was surprised that so few people knew anything about her outside of Lyme. You are right – her recognition as one of the most important scientists of her age is long overdue. Good luck with your campaign to have a statue erected and I hope to see her soon on the back of a £50 note!
Dear Carole
My name is Anya and I am Evie’s mum
Thank you so much for your lovely reply to Eve’s blog. We have both been reading all the lovely comments and it makes us feel even more determined to get this statue for Mary because we have the support of people like you behind us.
thank you for your kind wishes
Regards
Evie & Anya x
Well done Evie. Mary Anning was my heroine when I was about your age and I ended up studying and working in geology as a result. I heard about your campaign in the Big Big Issue magazine and will definitely be voting.
We totally support the campaign for a statue to be erected recognising the significant achievements of Mary Anning.
Wow Evie, well done. I haven’t read Tracey’s book yet but will go to order it from the library tomorrow.And I’ll look out for your crowd funding appeal and definitely support you. I can’t afford much but if enough people give what they can you’ll make it. Good luck
This is an amazing, informative and amusing blog. I read about your campaign for Mary Anning in a back issue of the Big Issue. So I missed out on the campaign for voting for Mary Anning to be on the £50 note. I love your Mum’s £50 note though and agree she looks great. I really hope you succeed with having a statue erected acknowledging the important discoveries of Mary Anning. Who I had till now never heard of. I love Science so this is very interesting. Thank you Evie. How do I support for crowd funding please to help pay a local artist to create a statue please? You are an amazing, inspiring young woman Evie and your Mum is fabulous supporting you too. Great team.
Thanks for that! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂 If you want to know more about Evie’s campaign, you can check out the website here: https://www.maryanningrocks.co.uk/.
Hello Evie and your Mum Anya. First of all I must say how proud we all are of you Evie and especially your Mum for all the support she is giving you in your fantastic campaign for a statue to be erected in Mary Annings honour. This is a long overdue recognition for Mary and I hope she will be chosen for the new stamp image.