Margaret Crosfield

Margaret Chorley Crosfield (7 September 1859 – 13 October 1952) was a British palaeontologist and geologist.

Crosfield became an active member of the Geologists' Association in 1892, later becoming a council member in 1918. In 1894 she was elected to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. She was one of the first six women to be elected Fellows of the Geological Society of London in 1919, the year that the law enforced the acceptance of women into such societies. She also was a member of the Palaeontological Society from 1907–1932. She collaborated with Gertrude Elles (1872–1960), Ethel Wood (1871–1945), and Ethel Skeat (1869–1939). Crosfield and Skeat investigated the Denbighshire grits and flags from 1906 to 1909 and in 1911, using graptolite to establish a sequence.

Crosfield kept meticulous ordered note books and field specimens, some of which are kept at the British Geological Survey in Keyworth, Nottingham. The notebooks not only contain scientific data and observations but also give an insight into a life working "in the field". One such entry describes an encounter with a local rector in Wales, "Mr Watkins Williams is 89. A fine old man. He has just ordered a brick grave to be made for himself".

Margaret Chorley Crosfield grew up in Reigate, Surrey, where she lived until the age of ninety-three. She had a keen interest in education, and served on the Reigate Education Committee for many years.Her obituary praised her “her wonderful accuracy and industry” as a geologist, and described her as “always kindly and eager to help”.Crosfield was a promoter of women's suffrage, and lectured local societies on social issues, as well as scientific topics.Indeed, some of her field notes were written on the back of suffragette note paper.

Crosfield attended school at the Mount School, York. Crosfield went to study at Newnham College, Cambridge in 1878, in which she began the study of geology as part of her course. However, she had to leave a year later due to ill health. She returned to the University 10 years later and gained special permission to study geology exclusively.

On her return to Cambridge, she met two of her lifelong friends and fellow researchers, Ethel Gertrude Skeat and Mary Johnston.

Crosfield, Skeat and Johnston went on to survey 2 areas in Wales, resulting in 2 published articles. “On the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Carmarthen” in 1896 and “The Silurian Rocks of the Clwydian Range” in 1925. Both articles were published by “The Quarterly Journal of the geological society of London”.

In her paper on Carmarthen, Crosfield surveyed 4 miles around the town and discovered syncline, collecting new species of trilobites.

In 1906 along with Skeat and under the direction of Professor John Marr, Crosfield examined the “little-known series of Denbighshire Grits and Flags in the Clwydians, in order to establish a sequence by means of the graptolite fauna”.

From 1906 to 1909 and again, in 1911 geological surveys were conducted inside an area of 72 squared miles their observations were published in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, volumes 52 (1896) and 81 (1925).

In 1914 Crosfield also surveyed Wenlock limestone for Proceedings of the Geological Association with M.S Thompson and provided an account for C.E Salmon's publication on Surrey's flora.

Crosfield was an esteemed and active member of the Geologists Association, later becoming a council member of said Association. In 1894 Crosfield was elected into the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

In 1919, a law was passed for the acceptance of women into public societies, at which time Crosfield became inducted, along with five other women, into the Fellows of the Geological Society of London. From 1907–1932, Crosfield also played a role in the Palaeontological Society as well.

Aside from her role as a woman within geological and palaeontological academia at the time, the notes gathered from Crosfield not only hold strictly geological significance. The notes often describe the nuances of living and working in the field, and the notes themselves were written on the back of suffragette paper; denoting her active role in the suffragette movement.

Margaret Crosfield was able to self-fund her research, and was not employed by a University or College.

Crosfield published three research papers. The first was written with Ethel Skeat on the geology of Carmarthen in 1896. The paper was clear and formed the basis of the geological map produced by the British Geological Survey for the area. Her second publication was with Mary Johnston, on the Wenlock limestone of Shropshire. Finally, she wrote again with Ethel Skeat in 1925 on the geology of the Silurian rocks of the Clywdian Range.

Alongside her publications, she travelled widely and kept detailed notes.

These notes contained field notes, and records of specimen locations still seen in British Geological Survey in Key Worth and the Grosvenor Museum in Chester. In 1906 Professors McKenny Hughes, and Marr of the University of Cambridge along with Professor Lapworth of Mason Science College initiated a small group of woman including Margaret Crosfield and Ethel Skeat to research the Silurian and Ordovician rock of North Wales and the borders to solve the "Silurian problem." Unfortunately, the research of developing and understanding the Silurian and Ordovician stratigraphy of Northeast Wales is lost over time. Margaret surveyed a 4-mile radius around Carmarthen and while examining the syncline she discovered new features of stratigraphy and also collected a new species of trilobite.

She was one of the first six women to be elected as fellows of the Geological Society. Her contribution to Geology was one that paved way for many women in Geology. Her information and readings are still preserved to this day and are used to collect old findings.