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Mary Philadelphia Merrifield (née Watkins; 15 April 1804 – 4 January 1889) was a British writer on art and fashion. She later became an algologist (an expert on seaweed). ==Life== She was born Mary Philadelphia Watkins in Brompton, London in 1804. Her father, Sir Charles Watkins, was a barrister who specialised in transferring property ownership. She married John Merrifield〔 and gave birth to a son, Charles Watkins Merrifield, in 1827.〔Adrian Rice, 'Merrifield, Charles Watkins (1827–1884)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2012 (accessed 8 Nov 2015 )〕 They later moved to Brighton. Her husband worked as a barrister and she undertook the translation of a book on painting by the 15th-century artist Cennino Cennini. The book, ''Treatise of Painting'', was published in 1844.〔'(Mary Merrifield )', ''Oxford Dictionary of Biography'', Retrieved 6 November 2015〕 In 1846 she published the ''Art of Fresco Painting'', which was a commission for the Royal Commission on the Fine Arts, being assisted by her two sons.〔(Mary Merrifield ), Brighton Museums, Retrieved 6 November 2015〕 In 1854 she chose a different subject and published ''Dress as a Fine Art'', which supported the more practical improvements of Amelia Bloomer.〔 Her approach challenged stereotypes, showing that fashion was a subject capable of scientific study. She demonstrated that people who were interested in fashion could aspire to academic interest. In 1857 she was showing her knowledge of local history when she published ''Brighton Past and Present''. In 1857 she was honoured with a civil list pension of £100 per year.〔 She used her location at Brighton to research ''A Sketch of the Natural History of Brighton'' which, together with later scientific papers, made her an expert on seaweed.〔 In the 1870s she published more papers on natural history. She was so interested in corresponding with the naturalist Jacob Georg Agardh that she learnt Swedish.〔 Agardh returned the compliment by naming an Australian algae, ''Rytiphlaea Merrifieldiae'' (aka Nanopera merrifieldiae), after her. She continued to publish papers in the British scientific journal ''Nature''. She also worked arranging natural history displays at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mary Philadelphia Merrifield」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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