Gulielma Lister was already well-known in academic circles before she had even had a chance to venture into them herself, coming from a prominent east-London Quaker family. Born in Essex in 1860, her family has been described as by historian Mary R.S Reece as a ‘Quaker family of distinction,’ highlighting their importance. This is as her father Arthur Lister was a well-known naturalist alongside his work as a wine merchant, her uncle being an established surgeon, and her brothers being involved in zoology and medicine. As her family were renowned in the academic scientific circles, her achievements in botany may be seen as typical of a family of her stature. However, Gulielma’s life was highly accomplished of her own accord, being labelled by historian Peter Ayres as the ideal ‘Gentlewoman Scientist.’

Scientific Work

Gulielma’s interest in science was nurtured by the year which she spent away from home education, at Bedford College, which solidified her interest in botany. Although her career is heavily associated with her father’s scientific legacy, it must be noted that before joining her father’s studies, she had published an article in her own right on a plant parasite, which was published in the Journal of Linnean Society in 1884. However, it was her work with her father on his famous monograph on slime moulds, ‘Monograph of the Mycetozoa,’ which made her name in the field. Their work and connections with high profile institutes such as the British Museum and the Paris Natural History Museum foreshadowed the far-reaching connections which she would make in her own academic career. The work that Gulielma and her father completed became the most important text on the Mycetozoa, as it fully classified them for the first time. Her contribution is notable, with her father stating in the preface of the first edition the helpfulness of her role.

Despite her father’s death in 1908, she produced a second edition of the monograph in 1911 and a third in 1925. In these editions, she used the newfound material on the topic that the initial monograph inspired and brought to the British Museum to expand on their work, as well as the third edition containing her watercolour illustrations. It is clear that the scientific community highly regarded Gulielma’s work on the Mycetozoa, with an item in the Journal of the Friends’ Historical Society in 1915 noting that his ‘accomplished daughter’ would continue on his scientific legacy. She continued work on this for the rest of her academic career, and it is well documented that although not named as such, she essentially worked as the curator of the British Museum’s work on Mycetozoa, enhancing their collection with her watercolours and knowledge of the field. She is also known for her willingness to share and expand scientific knowledge across cultures, having corresponded with the Emperor of Japan over the Mycetozoa, and also having learnt Polish for the sole reason of reading fellow botanist Josef Rostafinsky’s work. 

Gulielma’s Championing of Women in Science

Separate to her academic achievements in the scientific sphere, Gulielma Lister also achieved many milestones for women in science in terms of her memberships of organisations. She is recorded as being one of the first members of the British Mycological Society, of which she was a council member, alongside being their president in 1912 and 1932. She was also made an honorary member in 1924, showcasing and recognising her lengthy commitment to the society. She delivered a Presidential Address to the Society in 1912 on ‘Past students of the Mycetozoa and their work,’ which was noted in the ‘Forres Elgin and Nairn Gazette, Northern Review and Advertiser’ at the time as a highlight of the meeting, and where it can be seen that she was the only woman on the bill. Another notable association she was involved with was the Essex Field Club, of which she became the first female president in 1916 after 9 years of membership, and served as the vice president after this. This was all alongside her being one of the first female Fellows of the Linnean Society in 1904, and the Chair of the School Nature Study Union for a period. A contemporary from the Linnean Society, Elizabeth M. Blackwell, recorded her memory of Gulielma attending meetings in her suit, and removed her hat as regularly as the male fellows did- which they noted as odd for a woman to do at the time, but inspired other women in attendance to do the same. Clearly then, her achievements in science were parallel to her barrier-breaking in scientific associations- opening doors for other women in science to come forward.

This was exemplified through her involvement with the Botanical Research Fund, which aimed to help encourage more women into science and enable them to study their chosen field. The fund is remembered as being started before World War One by Gulielma and some other female botanists in order to fund women in botany’s research, successfully funding the purchase of a microscope and renting a space at Bedford College in London to form a small laboratory. Although the laboratory had to be disbanded after two years, the Fund continued to thrive and ensure that grants could be given to female academics. Furthermore, it is seen in her biography that she was known for her patience and kindness towards the younger and less established workers, further highlighting her encouragement towards other young researchers to get involved, presumably many of them women. Similarly, it is also important to note Gulielma’s work with ‘The London Group.’ This was an unofficial band of female botanists who, near the end of the 1880s, began to link up with academic organizations in London, such as Kew Gardens. The group saw Lister work alongside prominent botanists such as Annie Lorrain Smith and Barton Gepp and is recognised by historian Mary R.S Creese as having ‘greatly increased the women’s possibilities for botanical investigation.’ 

Overall, Guilelma Lister’s legacy, although often attached to her family’s well-known academic ability, stands completely in its own stead. She carried on her father’s scientific discoveries but did so by carving her own path forward in botany, a path which she encouraged fellow female scientists to follow. 

Bio:

Iona has just started her Masters in Gender History at the University of Glasgow. Her research interest is gender history, especially surrounding WW1 in Scotland, and she is passionate about telling the stories of women from history and connecting the past and the present.   Her history twitter is: ionatytler_ 

Sources

Cryptogamic and Mycological Conference at Forres. Forres Elgin and Nairn Gazette, Northern Review and Advertiser.  11th September 1912. 

 E.F Haskins. ‘Miss Gulielma Lister F.L.S. remembered.’  Mycologist Vol 13:2 (1999) pp.54-56

G.C Ainsworth and Frances L. Balfour-Browne. ‘Guilelma Lister Centenary.’ Nature. Vol 188 (1960) pp.362-363

J. Ramsbottom. ‘Miss Gulielma Lister.’ Nature. Vol 164 (1949) pp.94-5

Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie and Joy Dorothy Harvey. The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z.  (Oxford: Taylor and Francis, 2000) 

Mary R.S Creese.  ‘Lister, Gulielma (1860-1949)’ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  

Mary R.S Creese. Ladies in the Laboratory? American and British Women in Science, 1800-1900. (Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1998)

Peter Ayres. Women and the Natural Sciences in Edwardian Britain: In Search of Fellowship. (London: Springer Nature, 2020)

The Journal of the Friend’s Historical Society. ‘Arthur Lister, 1830-1908.’ Vol 12 (1915) pp.84-5