Hannah English Williams

Hannah English Williams (died 1722) was a collector of natural history in the American British Colonies during the early 18th century. Hannah English Williams lived near Stoney Point along the Ashley River while managing lands that provided area for her collection. Living near Charleston, South Carolina, she aided in documenting South Carolina's natural resources. She was married twice in her life, first to Matthew English, then she later married William Williams in her life. She is documented as the first female to collect specimens of plants and animals in the American British colonies and send them back overseas for scientific collections in London.

Personal life Hannah English Williams married Matthew English and had two children with him, Mary and Henroyda. After the death of her husband, she was entitled to five hundred acres of land near Stony Point in November of 1692. She then wedded William Williams, an adjacent plantation owner, and gained another five hundred acres of land close to the Ashley River to add to her property near Stony Point. She exchanged letters with James Petiver, a Fellow of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, after being originally united in their shared curiosity by ship master William Halstead from South Carolina. As a part of Petiver's system of collectors, she was given instruction and materials for how to keep the specimens properly for transportation back to Britain. Petiver named a few butterfly species after her including: "William's orange girdle Carolina butterfly, William's yellow tipt Carolina butterfly, and William's selvedge-eyed Carolina butterfly."

According to the South Carolina Encyclopedia, English Williams assisted in promoting botanical and zoological appreciation through her collections in the New World.