Charlotte (Hugonin) Murchison (1788 - 1869)

Born 7 Apr 1788 in Exeter, Devon, England

Wife of Roderick Impey Murchison 1st Bt KCB — married 29 Aug 1815 in Buriton, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom

Died 9 Feb 1869 at age 80 in Belgravia, London, England, United Kingdom

Biography

Charlotte (Hugonin) Murchison is Notable.

Charlotte, Lady Murchison (18 April 1788 - 9 Feb 1869)^[1] was a British geologist and woman scientist in the days when they were not conspicuous and their achievements were often attributed to their male colleagues, in this case her husband, Sir Roderick Murchison. Without her, her husband would have not started his career as a geologist.

Early Life

Charlotte was born on 7 April 1788^[2] at Exeter, Devon, England. Note that other publications including Wikipedia^[1] and a biography by Martina Kölbl-Ebert^[3] give a different date for her birth. She was baptised on 1 May 1788 at All Hallows On The Walls, Exeter^[4] and named for her mother. She was the daughter of General Francis Hugonin and Charlotte Edgar, who was a talented florist and botanist according to her daughter.

She was well-educated in the custom of the times in literature and arts, but also showed an interest in nature.

Marriage

Charlotte met Roderick Impey Murchison, a soldier, on the Isle of Wight in the summer of 1815^[3]. They married a short time later on 29 August 1815 at Buriton, Hampshire^[5][6]. The marriage was announced in several newspapers including in the county where they married as follows^[7]:

On Tuesday last was married, at Buriton, in this county, R. J. Murchison, Esq., Captain in the 6th dragoons, to Charlotte, only daughter of Lieut.-General Hugonin.

They had no children, but one of her nieces by marriage lived with them.

They spent the first months of their marriage with her parents where Roderick was instructed by all three of them in natural history subjects^[3]. In Spring 1816, the couple went to Europe, visiting France and Italy. She took him on trips to teach him about nature. They spent the winter in Genoa, then travelled to Rome for the summer. She became ill with malarial fever and nearly died. Although she recovered, she suffered from its effects for the rest of her life. In Rome they met Mary Somerville who became a life-long friend. She commented in her autobiography:

"Our great geologist ... knew hardly one stone from another. ... Lady Murchison had taken to the study of geology; and soon after her husband began that career which has rendered him the first geologist of our country."

Working Life

After their return to England, they lived in the house that had previously been owned by Charlotte's grandfather at Barnard Castle, Durham^[3]. There she continued her study of mineralogy and conchology by collecting minerals found locally. Meanwhile, her husband lived a fox-hunting life. It took until 1824 before he gave up this "playboy" lifestyle, perhaps necessitated by its financial cost, and they moved to London so that he could study.

On 16 December 1825 Roderick read his first paper to the Geological Society covering the geology of the area around Nursted House where she had grown up. This was obviously based on her work. That year they went to the southern coast where she collected fossils and sketched geological features. Here she went fossilizing with Mary Anning, the famous fossil hunter, and they became friends, writing to each other.

The following year they went to Yorkshire, to Brora and the Hebrides. During this trip she collected many fossils which later were described by James de Carle Sowerby^[8] in hisMineral Conchology of Great Britain in 1827. Sowerby named one of the ammonites she found, Ammonites Murchisonae in her honour. William Buckland also obtained specimens from her collection for his book Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology.

In April 1828 they left for another tour of Europe^[9]. They were joined in Paris in May by Charles Lyell. Together they travelled through France into the Massif Central. While the men went out, she worked on "sketching, labelling specimens and making out shells" (as reported by Lyall in one of his letters). In Nice, her husband became unwell with malaria fever, but she nursed him back to health. As she too was also unwell, the group remained at Nice for some time.

In 1838 Charlotte's mother died^[10]. Her daughter inherited her mother's fortune which her husband used to buy a house in Belgravia. That became a meeting place for the scientific elite.

In 1841 she was staying at Boreham House, Barnet, Elstree, Hertfordshire, the home of Rt Hon Sir Brook Taylor (60)^[11][12]. The household on Census night comprised Sir Brook, Edward (65), Louisa (50) and Bridges Taylor (25), six male servants, five female servants, Charlotte Murchison (50), Catherine Hugonin (20) and Jane Canson (25).

A significant step in the recognition of women scientists occurred in 1846 ^[13] when the British Association for the Advancement of Science admitted women to its membership. On 19 September that year Lady Murchison and other women paid their subscriptions and became members. Her husband was President at that time. That was also the year that her husband was knighted.

In 1851 they were living at Saint Georges Hanover Square, Middlesex with eight servants including a butler and two footmen^[14]. The estimate of her birth year was 1801, which is somewhat in error. That year they both attended the opening in May of the Museum of Practical Geology^[15].

Later life

In later years, she was unable to travel as much because of ill health^[3].

In 1861 she and her husband were staying at Butlands Park Hotel, managed by Marion Decot (33), at Weybridge, Chertsey, Surrey^[16]. She was the wife of Sir R Murchison, aged 71 and born in Exeter. Her husband was the Director General of the Geological Survey aged 69 and born in Taradale, Ross-shire. There were a lot of staff to look after the guests, and more than twenty guests, some of which had their own servants. The footman and lady's maid listed after their names probably were their own servants.

Charlotte died on 9 February 1869 at Belgravia, London, and her death was registered in the first quarter of 1869 at St. George Hanover Square, London^[17]. Her death was announced in many newspapers, all of which referred to her husband and her father^[18]:

Lady Murchison, the wife of Sir Roderick Murchison, died yesterday in her eighty-first year. The deceased lady was the only daughter of General Hugonin, of Nursted House, Hants, for many years colonel of the 4th Dragoons.

A few newspapers including the Morning Post^[19],the Leeds Mercury^[20] and the Inverness Courier^[21] printed a very detailed long obituary written by Frank Buckland in Land and Water. He noted that she was "no ordinary woman, and the world of science owes her a deep debt of gratitude; for if [she] had not - nearly half a century ago - weaned her husband's powerful mind from the ordinary occupations of a retired Peninsular captain, and attracted his attention to the engaging pursuits of science, England might never have had occasion to be proud of the illustrious baronet,who had fought such a good fight for geology, and whose labours have caused English geological knowledge to be respected wherever civilisation and human industry have utilised the products of the quarry, the coal-mine, or the gold field."

She was buried on 13 February^[22] in Brompton Cemetery, Kensington, London^[23][24]. Her probate was granted on 3 June 1869 in the Principal Registry, Middlesex ^[25]. Her nephew Francis James Hugonin of Trentham near Torquay, Devon was her Executor. Her effects were valued at less than £100. Various obituaries were published after her death^[26].

Her husband died two years later in 1871. She was mentioned in the obituaries for him^[27].

Research Notes

The actual date of birth needs to be resolved, 7 or 18 April. The date on the baptism record has been chosen here as that is a record that was written close to the time of the event. Those sources using 18 April do not provide information on where that date came from.

The 1841 Census goes over two pages, and the head of the household, Sir Brook Taylor, is on the previous page. Neither of the transcripts accounts for this, and both have a male servant as the head as he is listed on the top of the second page.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia: Charlotte Murchison Accessed 3 Jun 2020
2. ↑ "England, Devon Bishop's Transcripts, 1558-1887," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLBD-ZNRW : 11 September 2019), Charlotte Hugonin, Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom; citing Baptism, The Devon Record Office, Exeter. Accessed 24 Jan 2021
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Kölbl-Ebert, Martina. "CHARLOTTE MURCHISON (NÉE HUGONIN) 1788–1869." Earth Sciences History 16, no. 1 (1997): 39-43. available on JStor Accessed June 4, 2020
4. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N5QN-GR3 : 18 September 2020), Charlotte Hugonin, 1788. Accessed 24 Jan 2021
5. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NV2C-DJ4 : 13 March 2020), Charlotte Hugonin in entry for Roderick Impey Murchison, 1815. Accessed 3 Jun 2020
6. ↑ "England, Hampshire Bishop's Transcripts 1680-1892," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLY4-RCJ2 : 16 March 2018), Roderick Impey Murchison and Charlotte Hugonin, 29 Aug 1815; citing Marriage, Buriton, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom, Lancashire Record Office and Hampshire Record Office, United Kingdom. Accessed 3 Jun 2020
7. ↑ The British Newspaper Archive: WINCHESTER, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER. Salisbury and Winchester Journal - Monday 04 September 1815. Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Accessed 20 May 2022
8. ↑ Wikisource contributors, Wikisource: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900. Sowerby, James de Carle Accessed 19 May 2022
9. ↑ Kölbl-Ebert, M. The geological travels of Charles Lyell, Charlotte Murchison and Roderick Impey Murchison in France and northern Italy (1828). Available on Google Books Accessed 19 May 2022
10. ↑ England & Wales General Register Office GRO Online Indexes - Death Accessed 19 May 2022

    Hugonin, Charlotte (Age at death: 80).

    GRO Reference: 1838 Jan-Feb-Mar in Petersfield Volume 07 Page 93.

11. ↑ Ancestry.com. 1841 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010. Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1841. Class: HO107; Piece: 438; Book: 9; Civil Parish: Elstree; County: Hertfordshire; Enumeration District: 1; Folio: 6; Page: 6; Line: 4; GSU roll: 288827. Accessed 19 May 2022
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    Charlotte Murcheson (50) in Barnet registration district.

12. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQYD-76L : 7 March 2021), Charlotte Murcheson in household of Edwd Kenny [incorrect - Brook Taylor, Rt Honle Sir], Elstree, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey. Accessed 19 May 2022
13. ↑ The British Newspaper Archive: Sun (London) - Saturday 19 September 1846 Public domain. Accessed 19 May 2022
14. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGFR-8W2 : 9 November 2019), Charlotte Marchison in household of Roderick J Marchison, Saint Georges Hanover Square, Middlesex, England; citing Saint Georges Hanover Square, Middlesex, England, p. 32, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
15. ↑ The British Newspaper Archive: MUSEUM OF PRACTICAL GEOLOGY. Morning Post - Tuesday 13 May 1851 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Accessed 19 May 2022
16. ↑ Ancestry.com. 1861 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1861. Class: RG 9; Piece: 421; Folio: 133; Page: 4; GSU roll: 542634. Accessed 20 May 2022
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    Charlotte Murchison (71) visitor in household of Marion Decot (33) in Chertsey registration district.

17. ↑ "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2JXH-VDT : 31 December 2014), Charlotte Murchison, 1869; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, St. George Hanover Square, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. Accessed 24 Jan 2021
18. ↑ The British Newspaper Archive: Pall Mall Gazette - Wednesday 10 February 1869 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Accessed 20 May 2022
19. ↑ The British Newspaper Archive: Lady Murchison. Morning Post - Saturday 13 February 1869 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Accessed 20 May 2022
20. ↑ The British Newspaper Archive: SOUVENIRS OF THE LIFE OF LADY MURCHISON. Leeds Mercury - Tuesday 16 February 1869 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Accessed 20 May 2022
21. ↑ The British Newspaper Archive: SOUVENIRS OF THE LIFE OF LADY MURCHISON. Inverness Courier - Thursday 18 February 1869 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Accessed 20 May 2022
22. ↑ Ancestry.com. Brompton, London, England, Cemetery Registers, 1840-2012 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2019. Original data: WORK 97: Office of Works and successors: Royal Parks and Pleasure Gardens: Brompton Cemetery, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey, England. Series Number: Work 97; Piece Number: 108. Accessed 19 May 2022
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    Charlotte Murchison burial on 13 Feb 1869 in London, London, England.

23. ↑ "BillionGraves Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV39-SJ1M : 1 July 2016), Charlotte Hugonin Murchison, died 09 Feb 1869; citing BillionGraves (http://www.billiongraves.com : 2012), Burial at Brompton Cemetery, Kensington, Greater London, England, United Kingdom. Accessed 24 Jan 2021
24. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/120919676/charlotte-murchison : accessed 19 May 2022), memorial page for Charlotte Hugonin Murchison (18 Apr 1788–9 Feb 1869), Find A Grave: Memorial #120919676, citing Brompton Cemetery, West Brompton, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Greater London, England ; Maintained by NWO (contributor 46583762) .
25. ↑ Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England.
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    Charlotte Murchison probate on 3 Jun 1869 in Principal Registry. Died 9 Feb 1869 in Middlesex, England.

26. ↑ "British Newspaper Archive, Family Notices," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPCN-TW29 : 17 April 2019), Murchison, Lady, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, United Kingdom; records extracted FamilySearch and images digitized by FindMyPast; citing Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, 12 Feb 1869, The British Newspaper Archive, Ireland; FHL microfilm. Accessed 19 May 2022
27. ↑ "British Newspaper Archives, Obituaries," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q269-389P : 26 October 2019), Charlotte Hugonin in entry for Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 28 Oct 1871; citing Obituary, Leamington, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom, page , Records extracted by FindMyPast and images digitized by FamilySearch. The British Library, London; FHL microfilm 102,001,244.

Acknowledgements

• Biography written by her very distant cousin by marriage Margaret Bailey Allison
• Thanks to Melanie Paul for her help with the birth date for Charlotte