Denise Hall: Ellen Hutchins, a scientific maverick

For women interested in science in the early 19th and 20th century, botany was considered to be the most accessible — and suitable — fields to enter. But it wasn’t easy.

There was a heavy emphasis on women’s role at the centre of the home, and this was not exactly conducive to scientific pursuits. But for reasons best known to themselves, the study of plants was viewed as an acceptable hobby for respectable young women.

Early humans used plants for food, clothing, shelter and medicine. The science of botany arose from these basic human needs, as documented by Greeks such as Theophratus (300BC) — the “ancient father of botany” — who depicted hundreds of plants in Historia Plantarum.