Born: 2 July 1846, United Kingdom
Died: 20 April 1912
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: Marian Ridley, Marian Ogilvie Farquharson
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
In 1885, Marian Farquharson was elected as the first female fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society—but as a woman she was still prohibited from actually attending any meetings or voting on society matters…
In 1900, Marian Farquharson sent a letter petitioning the Royal Society and the Linnean Society of London that “duly qualified women should have the advantages of full fellowship in scientific and other learned societies.” They initially refused to consider the petition on the excuse that they could only accept one from a fellow, so she got its former president, John Lubbock, to resubmit it on her behalf. Their new excuse was that the royal charter that established the organisation probably couldn’t apply to women because it used male pronouns. But she kept pushing, until the society agreed to put the petition to a vote by the fellows. In 1903, the society requested a supplementary charter from King Edward VII explicitly allowing women to join as fellows. In December 1904, fifteen women were nominated for fellowship—all were elected except Farquharson. It was years before she was resubmitted in 1908, at which time she was elected, but it was too late. Due to the delay, her now-ill health prevented her from signing the admission roll.