Mary Anne Stebbing

Mary Anne Stebbing FLS (née Saunders; 11 September 1845 – 21 January 1927) was a botanist and botanical illustrator. She was among the first women to be admitted to the Linnean Society.

Personal life

Stebbing was the daughter of botanist and entomologist William Wilson Saunders. Growing up she was involved in gathering, identifying and sketching botanicals for her father, as well as caring for the garden. She met her husband through the Holmesdale Natural History Club which had been set up by her father. On their golden anniversary they spent a portion of the day drawing together.

Work Stebbing sought to illustrate British flora in water colour. Her early work has been described as focusing on aesthetics, more closely resembling a flower painter than a botanical illustrator. Her style changed in her later work, her sketches became more detailed including multiple sections of the plants and notes, for example on the location the specimen was found. Lord Crisp, the husband of one of the other female Fellow being admitted, Lady Crisp, commissioned a painting of the event. In the original painting Stebbing was a central figure, however Lord Crisp objected to this, initially stating “Naturally if I pay £300 for a picture, I should prefer that another Fellow’s wife should not be the selected figure!”, and later implying Stebbing lacked scientific merit; “we must surely have at the table a lady Fellow who has done something, not one without a record.”. Several newspapers commented on the picture, for example The World commented “the picture was rendered somewhat comic by the figure [Stebbing] in blue plush in the foreground”. When the picture was eventually presented to the Linnaean society in 1919, Stebbing had been painted over and replaced with an empty chair.

Although there is no official record of attendance, Stebbing is thought to have regularly attended meetings of the society.