Maria Millington Lathbury

Maria Millington Lathbury, Lady Evans
Lathbury, 1897
Born1856
Died1944(1944-00-00) (aged 87–88)
Alma materSomerville College, Oxford
OccupationClassical archaeologist
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1892; died 1908)​
ChildrenDame Joan Evans

Maria Millington Lathbury, Lady Evans (1856–1944) was a classical scholar, archaeologist and numismatist. An alumna of Somerville College, she campaigned for Oxford University to award degrees to women. Along with Ethel Abrahams, she was one of the first female scholars of classical Greek dress. She married the archaeologist John Evans, and their daughter was art historian Joan Evans.

Biography

[edit]

Lathbury was born in 1856,[1] the daughter of Charles Crawford Lathbury of Wimbledon.[2] In 1886, aged 30, she began to study Literae humaniores at the University of Oxford;[3][4][5] her college was Somerville.[6] Her interest in the classical world had been stimulated by Jane Harrison's "Extension Lectures in the Suburbs".[5] At Oxford she was taught by Percy Gardner.[5] Later, she travelled to Greece as a companion for a 'younger woman' in 1892. There some of the research for her subsequent book took place.[6] She also joined one of Dörpfeld's tours of the Greek islands.[5] In 1892, she also wrote a note in The Academy on the lighting within Greek temples.[7]

In 1892, Lathbury married the archaeologist Sir John Evans.[8] They had met at a lecture that Lathbury attended on "The Dates of some Greek Temples as derived from their orientation".[9] They met again the following week at a dinner party and five months later were married.[9][10] For a wedding gift, Evans gave Lathbury a Roman cameo, in a gold mount by Alessandro Castellani.[8] They toured archaeological sites in Britain and France for their honeymoon, travelling with their mutual friend Nina Layard.[11]

On 22 June 1893, their daughter, Joan, was born at Nash Mills, Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire.[12] In 1906, the family moved to Britwell, Berkhamsted.[12] In 1908, Sir John Evans died. In his obituary, Maria Lathbury, Lady Evans, was described as a "classical scholar and keen antiquary".[13] Lady Evans died in 1944.[1]

Career

[edit]

After completing the examinations in the late 1880s, Lathbury was appointed as an Extension Lecturer for the university.[14] She was also a 'lady lecturer' at the British Museum, focusing on Greek dress.[14] In fact, along with Ethel Abrahams, Lathbury was one of the first female scholars of Greek Dress.[15] Both scholars wanted their work to be accessible so that members of the public could recreate Greek styles of dress for themselves.[15] In 1891, she was interviewed in the Pall Mall Gazette with Jane Harrison, where they discussed the Greek world, archaeology and the character of female audiences for archaeological talks.[16]

In 1892, she designed the costume for a production of Aristophanes' The Frogs.[17] In the following year her book, Chapters on Greek Dress, published and dedicated to OUDS 'in remembrance of their performance of the Frogs of Aristophanes'.[18] Lathbury was one of those who campaigned for Oxford University to award degrees to women, in 1896.[19]: 106 

In 1900, The Englishwoman's Yearbook & Directory listed her as a woman "active in archaeology".[20]

Publications

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  • Chapters on Greek Dress (London, 1893)[18]
  • 'Hair Dressing on Roman Ladies as Illustrated on Coins' Numismatic Chronicle (1906)[21]
  • 'A Silver Badge of Thetford' Numismatic Chronicle (1907)[22]
  • 'Memorial Medal of Anne Eldred' Numismatic Chronicle (1908)[23]
  • 'A Silver Plaque of Charles I as Prince' Numimatic Chronicle (1908)[24]
  • 'Memorial Medal of Josiah Nicolson' Numismatic Chronicle (1909)[25]
  • 'The Trentham Statue and the Sacerdotessa' The Burlington Magazine (1910)[26]
  • 'Le Pontifical de Metz' Revue Archéologique (1912)[27]
  • Lustre Pottery (1920)[28]
  • 'Moorish Potters in France' The Burlington Magazine (1936)[29]

Legacy

[edit]

Lathbury buried a time capsule on 20 July 1898, with a halfpenny and a handwritten note inside, to commemorate the construction of St Albans Museum, which her husband helped to found.[30] A new capsule was re-buried on the same spot in 2018.[31][32]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Maria Lathbury". British Museum. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  2. ^ Garlick, Kenneth (2004). "Evans, Dame Joan (1893–1977), scholar and author". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/47612. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ Wrigley, Amanda. "ROBERT BRIDGES'MASQUE DEMETER AND OXFORD'S PERSEPHONES" (PDF). New Voices in Classical Reception Studies. 5.
  4. ^ admin (21 February 2018). "Evans, Joan, Dame". Evans, Joan. Prelude & Fugue, an Autobiography. London: Museum Press, 1964; Garlick, Kenneth. "Evans, Joan, Dame." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004; Coldstream, Nicola. "Joan Evans (1893-1977): Art Historian and Antiquary." in, Chance, Jane, ed. Women Medievalists in the Academy. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2005, pp. 399-422; "Dame Joan Evans, Historian of French and English Medieval Art." Times (London) July 15, 1977, p.18. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d Gill, David W. J. (2002). "'The passion of hazard': women at the British School at Athens before the First World War". The Annual of the British School at Athens. 97: 494. doi:10.1017/S0068245400017482. ISSN 0068-2454. S2CID 162002147.
  6. ^ a b "Chapter 5: Women at the British School at Athens". Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. 54 (Supplement_111): 115–139. 1 April 2011. doi:10.1111/j.2041-5370.2011.tb00052.x. ISSN 0076-0730.
  7. ^ Millington-Lathbury, M. (1892). CORRESPONDENCE. The Academy, 1869-1902, 0269-333X, (1028), 70.
  8. ^ a b "Cameo set in a 19th century mount (Getty Museum)". The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  9. ^ a b Sir John Evans 1823-1908 : antiquity, commerce and natural science in the age of Darwin. MacGregor, Arthur, 1941-, Ashmolean Museum. [Oxford]: Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. 2008. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-85444-237-6. OCLC 298587682.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. ^ Evans, Joan (1964). Prelude & Fugue. p. 24.
  11. ^ Hill, Kate. (July 2016). Women and museums 1850-1914. Modernity and the gendering of knowledge. Sharpe, Pamela. Manchester. ISBN 978-1-5261-0031-3. OCLC 972478385.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ^ a b "Dame Joan Evans". hubbardplus.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  13. ^ LORD AVEBURY. 1908. 'Sir John Evans, K.C.B., D.C.L., F.R.S. Born November 17th, 1823; Died May 31st, 1908.'. Man Vol. 8, pp. 97-98. (available on-line: [1]).
  14. ^ a b Thornton, Amara (25 June 2018). Archaeologists in print : publishing for the people. London. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-78735-257-5. OCLC 1045427073.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  15. ^ a b Lee, Mireille M. (12 January 2015). Body, dress, and identity in ancient Greece. New York. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-107-05536-0. OCLC 892212917.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. ^ Thornton, Amara (25 June 2018). Archaeologists in print: publishing for the people. London. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-78735-257-5. OCLC 1045427073.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  17. ^ "Maria Millington Lathbury AKA Lady Evans | APGRD". www.apgrd.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  18. ^ a b Evans, Lady Maria Millington Lathbury (1893). Chapters on Greek Dress. Macmillan and Company.
  19. ^ Brittain, Vera (1960). The Women at Oxford. London: George G. Harrap & Co. ltd.
  20. ^ Thornton, Amara (25 June 2018). Archaeologists in print : publishing for the people. London. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-78735-257-5. OCLC 1045427073.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  21. ^ Evans, Maria Millington; Evans, Lady (1906). "Hair-Dressing of Roman Ladies as Illustrated on Coins". The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society. 6: 37–65. ISSN 0267-7504. JSTOR 42659999.
  22. ^ Evans, Maria Millington; Evans, Lady (1907). "A Silver Badge of Thetford". The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society. 7: 89–106. ISSN 0267-7504. JSTOR 42663491.
  23. ^ Evans, Maria Millington (1908). "Memorial Medal of Anne Eldred". The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society. 8: 178–194. ISSN 0267-7504. JSTOR 42662183.
  24. ^ Evans, Maria Millington (1908). "A Silver Plaque of Charles I as Prince". The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society. 8: 266–272. ISSN 0267-7504. JSTOR 42662189.
  25. ^ Evans, Maria Millington; Evans, Lady (1909). "Memorial Medal of Josias Nicolson". The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society. 9: 241–249. ISSN 0267-7504. JSTOR 42662213.
  26. ^ Evans, Maria Millington (1910). "The Trentham Statue and the Sacerdotessa". The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs. 17 (90): 371–368. ISSN 0951-0788. JSTOR 858435.
  27. ^ Evans, Maria Millington (1912). "Le Pontifical de Metz". Revue Archéologique. 19: 413–414. ISSN 0035-0737. JSTOR 41022591.
  28. ^ "LUSTRE POTTERY.* » 13 Nov 1920 » The Spectator Archive". The Spectator Archive. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  29. ^ Evans, Maria Millington (1936). "Moorish Potters in France". The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs. 69 (402): 136. ISSN 0951-0788. JSTOR 866691.
  30. ^ "Time Capsule". St Albans Museums. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  31. ^ Berry, Franki (15 November 2018). "Modern time capsule buried under former Museum of St Albans in same spot as 1898 discovery". Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  32. ^ "Time capsules found at former museum site". BBC News. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
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