Marion Newbigin

Marion Isabel Newbigin (1869–20 July 1934) was a Scottish geographer and biologist. She was noted for her book Animal Geography, a key work in the field of animal geography/zoogeography, and as editor of the Scottish Geographical Magazine.

Early life and education

Newbigin was born at Alnwick, Northumberland, Scotland, the daughter of local pharmacist James Lesslie Newbigin. She had four sisters and three brothers. She and all of her sisters were ardent feminists, and two of them also had academic careers. Universities in Scotland did not admit women, so she took courses at the Edinburgh Association for the University Education of Women, a private organisation that offered lectures by the faculty of the University of Edinburgh; at University College, Aberystwyth, in Wales; and at the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women, once it was formed.[1] Finally, she moved to the University of London, where in 1893 she received a B.Sc., and in 1898 a Ph.D. While still a student in Edinburgh she started to work as an assistant for zoologist J. Arthur Thomson, then a lecturer at the School of Medicine for Women, who was a great influence on her.[1][2]

Scientific career

While a student in London, Newbigin began conducting her own research, based at the laboratories of the Royal College of Physicians. She worked on a wide array of questions concerning the colouration of plants and animals, especially marine species. Her findings were published in a number of journal articles, which she authored individually or with collaborators, most notably N. D. Paton. In addition, she was given an opportunity to study and report on the vast collections of marine organisms recovered decades before by the Challenger expedition, and to perform research and expand her natural history knowledge at the Marine Biological Station Millport. She brought her work and the published literature on marine organisms' colouration together in Colour in Nature (1898) and Life by the Sea Shore (1901), which were praised as both scientifically rigorous and remarkably accessible. These early works of hers remained widely read for many years after their publication.[1]

After completing her degrees in London, Newbigin returned to Edinburgh, where she immediately took up her mentor Thomson's position as lecturer of biology and zoology at the School of Medicine for Women.[3] She was highly regarded by her students and those who saw her public lectures. She continued to lecture at various institutions, and later in her life devoted much of her time to writing geography textbooks.[1]

In 1902, she was employed as editor of the Scottish Geographical Magazine. She held that position until her death, and during those 32 years, she helped shape the academic discipline of geography as it first took shape. She used her platform amply write popular articles on various aspects of geography. As editor, and in various institutional roles, she mentored and encouraged an entire generation of British geographers. She contributed numerous academic works, and unusually even for her time, her geographical interests were wide-ranging, covering essentially every subfield of geography. Her most prominent work was Animal Geography (1913) and others on animal geographies and other areas at the intersection of biology and geography. However she also wrote about political geography (e.g. Aftermath, 1920, an acclaimed work on the aftermath of World War I), travel (Frequented Ways, 1922), and cartography (Ordnance Survey Maps, 1913), among other topics. Among the recognition she received was the Livingstone Gold Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, the Back Award of the Royal Geographical Society (1921) and the presidency of the geographical section of the British Association.[1][3]

Later life

Newbigin was never married, and lived with some of her sisters for most of her life. At Chamberlain Road, Edinburgh she lived for many years with Hilda and Alice, as well as Maude once the latter retired. It was there that she died on 20 July 1934.[1][4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Creese, M. R. S. (2004). "Newbigin, Marion Isabel (1869–1934)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37806. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ↑ Smith, C. H. (2005). "Newbigin, Marion Isabel (Scotland 1869–1934)". Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists and Ecologists: Chrono-Biographical Sketches. Western Kentucky University.
  3. 1 2 Maddrell, Avril (2011). "Chapter 3. Marion Newbigin and the Liminal Role of the Geographical Editor: Hired Help or Disciplinary Gatekeeper?". Complex Locations: Women's Geographical Work in the UK 1850–1970. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 1444399586.
  4. ↑ "Obituary: Dr. Marion I. Newbigin". The Geographical Journal. 84 (4): 367. 1934. JSTOR 1786717.

External links

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