Assorted papers of Grace Wigglesworth, Assistant Keeper (curator), 1910-1944

The fonds consist of documents belonging to Grace Wigglesworth, such as international correspondence to her, her personal handwritten and drawn lecture notes, as well as her assorted catalogues.

Grace Wigglesworth did her Bachelor degree in Science at the University of Manchester in 1903 and was a student of William Henry Lang. Then she graduated with a palaeobotany Master's degree in 1906. Afterwards, Grace Wigglesworth became the Assistant Keeper at The Manchester Museum from 1910 until 1944 and she was the second woman within the Herbarium staff after Marie Stopes. Even after her retirement she continued to help at the Herbarium until the 1950's.

Her main research subject was Devonian early land plants. She accessed the Grindon collection and spent a lot of time for the consolidation of botany within The Manchester Museum. She also created a link between the botany and the geology section of the Museum and she worked with the zoology staff on the galleries on general 'biology' displays.

It also seems like Grace Wigglesworth held lectures at the University of Manchester about the history of botany in 1926 and 1927, but little is known about that and one has to read her 'lecture notes' (BGW/2) carefully to get more information.

Arranged in series by subject matter. Rehoused in archival storage in February 2007. Series are numbered as follow:

• BGW/1 Correspondence
• BGW/2 Lecture Notes
• BGW/3 Catalogues

Unrestricted access to material, but visits to be prearranged with staff of the Botany Department.

Two boxes of documents, most stored in transparent envelopes.

Title supplied in 2007 by D. Wagner on basis of contents of the fonds. Biographical information is taken from:

Charlton, W. A./ Cutter, E. G.: 135 years of Botany in Manchester, Manchester 1986

Bowden, A. J./ Burek, C. V./ Wilding, R.: History of Palaeobotany: Selected Essays, in: Geological Society London, Special Publications 241, London 2005, pp. 229-257

From A Draft of Chapter 2 of Nature and Culture: Objects, Knowledge and The Manchester Museum 1890-1990 by Sam Alberti

Copyright is retained by The Manchester Museum.

Wigglesworth published two articles:

Wigglesworth, G.: A New Californian Species of Sphaerocarpus, together with an annotated List of the Specimens of Sphaerocarpus, in: University of California Publications in Botany 16 (3), California 1929

Wigglesworth, G.: A New Species of Sphaerocarpus, together with an annotated List of the Specimens of Sphaerocarpus in The Manchester Museum, in: Notes from The Manchester Museum 32, Museum Publication 98, Manchester 1930