Laetitia Jermyn

Laetitia Jermyn (1788–1848) was a British entomologist, illustrator and author. She was mentored by William Kirby, to whom she dedicated her best remembered work: The Butterfly Collector’s Vade Mecum, meaning 'ready reference'.

Life Laetitia Jermyn, was born in Suffolk in 1788, the daughter of George Jermyn and his with Margaret née Manning. George had taken gone into partnership with the Ipswich librarian and bookseller Charles Punchard in 1787, running the business on his own following Punchard's death in 1790 Ipswich book seller. George in turn died in 1799, and Laetitia's mother ran the business until her marriage to John Raw, who published the first book under his imprint in 1802. Her family allowed her to foster an interest in butterflies, and she was encouraged too by her neighbour William Kirby. Jermyn was said to have 'cultivated wide literary tastes.' He one Sunday rebuked his wife mid-sermon for arriving late to the service, asking "I wonder where you will be Madam when the last trumpet sounds?'

Work

In 1824, Jermyn published The Butterfly Collector’s Vade Mecum, signing the preface 'LJ'. As Peter Marren has written, in the 'resolutely masculine atmosphere of the Victorian age', women were often unwilling or unable to publish scientific works under their own name. Jermyn also used the work to defend the practice of butterfly collecting 'against the scorn of those who attack the study of natural history as a trifling and worthless pursuit.' It is now generally accepted to have been the Junonia villida, more commonly called the Meadow argus. The work was described as 'rhapsodic', highlighting the 'versatility and universality of her [Cobbold's] genius'.

Death Laetitia Jermyn died in 1848 and was buried (under her maiden name) in Navestock. She is commemorated in Navestock Church with a memorial tablet, which names her as 'Mistress Ford'.