Fossilised Ink! TrowelBlazer Networks! Near Death experiences! Dr Eliza Howlett and Dr Tori Herridge talking about the Philpot sisters, Mary Buckland, and  — of course! — Mary Anning on Channel 4’s Walking Through Time. (c) Renegade Pictures.

The 21st May is Mary Anning’s (and TrowelBlazers’! We stole it…) birthday. Today marks 220 years since the day she was born, and here at TrowelBlazers we want to celebrate by urging you all to get on board with the Mary Anning Rocks campaign to erect a statue to Anning in her home town Lyme Regis.

Because, to be quite honest, it’s about time. It is ridiculous there isn’t already already a statue to this talented, fierce, and funny woman who contributed so much to science.

‘Yes’, we hear you say, ‘It is ridiculous. But, after all, Mary Anning was a working class woman. Is it surprising that she hasn’t been commemorated in such a way?’

And you’d be right — except that the lack of an Anning statue is particularly egregious. Mary Anning was, and probably still is, Lyme Regis’ most famous resident. It’s not as simple to sigh, and say that she is just another forgotten woman whose achievements weren’t recognised.

She wasn’t forgotten or ignored. She was a celebrity in her right: people came to Lyme Regis just to see her, and — as you can see in the video above — her escapades were recounted in the scientific circles of the day. She is also probably the best known 19th Century British fossilist, male or female, today.

And her achievements were, and are, recognised. She might not have been granted authorship on papers, or allowed to present her work at learned societies. But her peers thought her brilliant, and she was sought out for her skills in fossil discovery and preparation.

Instead, Mary Anning, and her life and work, weren’t valued. And that is far, far worse.

Well. We can change that. If 11 year-old Evie can get a campaign started, it is the least we can do to spread the word, and ask people to help raise the money needed to make Evie’s dream a reality. They really, REALLY need all of us to pitch in because it is going to cost £175,000.

Mary Anning is a symbol of how the achievements of women and the working class are not valued. Mary Anning is should have had a statue years ago. We can make it happen now. On Mary Anning’s 220th birthday, please pledge your support for Mary Anning Rocks.