Lady Emma Bennet, 4th Countess of Tankerville

Lady Emma was born in 1752 and spent her childhood moving between a country estate in Surrey and a house in Soho Square, London. She and her sister Mary were raised by her rich uncle George Colebrook after the early deaths of both of their parents. At the age of 19 she married Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville and owner of Chillingham Castle in Northumberland, in an arranged marriage. They had 11 children in 16 years, and it is thought there was a great love and admiration between them.

Lady Emma developed a passion for plant collecting, which was a popular pursuit at the time, and collected exotic plants from all over the world. She was a great friend of Joseph Banks, a naturalist who famously joined James Cook’s Endeavor voyage. He was impressed by her passion and skill and named an orchid after her, called Phaius tankervilleae, when she became the first person in England to cultivate it successfully in her hot houses. At this time ladies were encouraged to collect plants as a hobby, but they were not able to go to university to learn the science of Botany or to join the Royal Botanic Society. Despite these limitations Emma produced many art works of botanical significance which now form one of the largest private collections in the Kew Archives. Not only were her paintings done with exquisite detail, but she also made detailed scientific notes on each plant including their various classifications, anatomy, conditions for growth, history and her own observations.

Lady Emma never received any official recognition for her work during her lifetime and is it only recently she had been given her place in history. Family correspondence revealed she was regarded by her husband’s colleague as having ‘the most merit of any woman in England; is very clever and a great wit,’ who had a leading role in the world of gentlemanly science of the period between 1771 and 1836.